South East: 19 private, fast-growing companies included in latest edition of league table

By Jo Whittle

3 December 2020

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The 24^th annual Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales.

Nineteen companies headquartered in the South East of England (the same as last year) have won places on the table, including 11 new entrants. Their sales have grown by an average of 82% a year over three years to a total of £897 million, all are profitable, and together they employ more than 2,900 people. The figures largely relate to financial periods before Covid-19 struck.

The region’s top-ranked company is a new entrant, Glencar Construction, based in St Albans, which ranks in the top three nationally, having grown sales by an impressive 441% a year to an annualised £96.5m in the year to September. It was set up by Eddie McGillycuddy, 40, and Chris Gleave, 49, in 2016, and its growth has been driven by building warehouses for online giants such as Ocado; and it is currently working on the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovations Centre in Oxfordshire, which aims to be capable of producing 70m Covid-19 vaccines by the summer.

Another new entrant is Hertfordshire nutrition brand Huel (No 7), founded by Julian Hearn and former NHS dietician James Collier, both 48, in 2015. Huel – short for "human fuel” – produces plant-based food products and powders that can be consumed as a meal. It has sold in excess of 100m meals across 90 countries, with more than half of its £71.6m sales in the year to July generated overseas.

The companies from the South East appear with businesses from around Britain, including BrewDog, the brewers, and fitness clothing brand Gymshark, both valued at more than £1 billion. Past star alumni include chip designer ARM, which featured in 1997 with sales of £16.7m and is in the process of being bought by American technology giant Nvidia for £31b, and drinks maker Fever-Tree, which floated in 2014 at £154m and is now worth £2.9b.

The Fast Track 100 is sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, BDO, DHL Express and N+1 Singer, and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.

Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group, which has supported Fast Track 100 for all 24 years, said:

“While we are living in extremely uncertain and challenging times, there is one thing I am certain of: entrepreneurs are the dreamers, the doers, and the innovators that have the power to have a positive impact on society. There are so many inspiring examples of this on the Fast Track 100 league table showing this is just as true, if not more so, in 2020 as it ever has been.”

Private companies in the South East with the fastest-growing sales, by county and rank

HQ location County	Rank [2019 rank]	Company Activity	3-year annual sales growth	Sales £m	Staff	Year end ‡	Comment
Westham East Sussex	25 [90]	Identity Events agency	83%	*20.4	75	Aug 20	Gained experience hosting virtual events when Storm Dennis hit the UK in February
Brighton East Sussex	52 [22]	Boxpark Retail and leisure developer	58%	*15.9	165	Apr 20	Closed its three sites during the national lock-downs, but was open between July and October
Brighton East Sussex	74	Clarity Environmental Environmental compliance services	45%	35.5	21	Dec 19	Donated £17,000 to charities affected by the pandemic, including the Care Workers Charity
Harlow Essex	36	Lazer Lamps Automotive LED lights maker	69%	*7.9	32	Jun 19	Motorsports teams such as McLaren and Toyota use its range of LED vehicle lights
Colchester Essex	66 [68]	OMG How Cheap Online stationery retailer	49%	9.5	37	Feb 20	Has increased staff numbers by 20 since March, to cope with extra demand
Wickford Essex	70	White Stores Garden furniture retailer	46%	*23.3	40	Aug 20	Opened a new warehouse in September and took on an additional 40 people
Brentwood Essex	93	Matchroom Sport Sporting events promoter	40%	192.9	87	Jun 19	Its Covid-secure "Fight Camp" in August attracted professional boxers such as Dillian Whyte and Katie Taylor
Braintree Essex	96 [99]	Airline Component Services Aircraft parts supplier	40%	*7.1	13	Mar 20	Saw its main market — supplying aircraft spares to airlines — heavily impacted from the spring
Farnborough Hampshire	35	Ignition Technology Software distributor	70%	28.7	32	Apr 20	Achieved record sales for its remote-access software when the country was first asked to work from home
Basingstoke Hampshire	46 [59]	Reassured Life insurance broker	61%	*65.1	564	Jan 20	Has doubled its number of offices, opening four since June, to make a total of eight
St Albans Hertfordshire	Top 3	Glencar Construction Construction contractor	441%	* †96.5	60	Sep 20	Is constructing the UK's Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire
Tring Hertfordshire	7	Huel Nutrition brand	131%	*71.6	120	Jul 20	Has recruited more than 30 staff since March, and launched its new "Hot & Savoury" range in September
Queenborough Kent	60 [35]	Revolution Beauty Beauty products retailer	55%	*152.4	205	Dec 19	Online sales have soared by 250% since the coronavirus outbreak began, to £55m
Chipping Norton Oxfordshire	51	Pareto Facilities Management Facilities maintenance provider	59%	*14.1	118	Sep 19	Donated 1,000 food parcels to the staff of London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo over Easter
Camberley Surrey	12 [4]	Performance54 Golf marketing agency	111%	*12.7	28	Apr 20	Promoted Saudi Arabia’s first-ever ladies professional golf tournament, which took place last month
Farnham Surrey	68	Symprove Gut-health drinks maker	48%	*7.5	32	Dec 19	Reported a record 50% rise in customers in May compared with 2019
Windlesham Surrey	82 [65]	Nurture Landscapes Landscape maintenance	43%	*79.0	1,170	Mar 20	Set up a zero-interest loan fund during the pandemic for employees in financial difficulty
Ockley Surrey	92	SIAN Wholesale Consumer goods wholesaler	41%	49.1	34	Dec 19	Chose not to raise the price on hand soap and sanitiser, its most sought-after products
Crawley West Sussex	33	South Cliff Dental Group Dental practice operator	72%	*7.1	150	Mar 20	Four of its practices became urgent care hubs treating emergency dental patients in the spring

‡ Financial year-end of latest available accounts * Supplied by the company † Annualised figure

The national picture

This year’s Fast Track 100 achieved, on average, sales growth of 73% a year over three years to a combined total of £4.4b. The companies are all profitable, and together they employ 32,000 staff, having more than tripled their combined workforce over the period.

Geographical spread: The region with the most company HQs is London (31), followed by the South East (19). The third most dominant region is the north of England – 18 companies are based there, with 10 in the North West and eight in Yorkshire and the North East. There are 16 companies based in the midlands, five in Scotland, five in the east of England, three in the South West, two in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland.

The full league table is published on December 6 as an eight-page supplement with the business section of The Sunday Times, both in print and in the digital edition, and on www.fasttrack.co.uk.

By Jo Whittle