Andrew Howie of Grant Thornton UK LLP
The 14th annual Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 league table ranks Britain’s private mid-market growth companies with the biggest sales.
The 20 companies headquartered in Scotland (compared to 22 last year) have made a strong contribution to the local economy. The companies increased combined sales 16% to £4.5bn and operating profits 27% to £400m and they employ more than 27,000 people.
The biggest mid-market growth company in Scotland is house builder Miller Homes. The Edinburgh based group plans to build 4,000 homes a year by 2021, up from the 2,775 it completed last year helping sales grow 19% to £675.2m with profits up 27% to £130.7m. Last year, private equity firm Bridgepoint acquired a majority stake from GSO Capital Partners in a £655m deal.
There are 11 entrants in Scotland that were not on the league table last year, including engineering services provider EnerMech, which was founded by five colleagues in 2008 using £20m of seed capital from management and private-equity group Lime Rock Partners and clothing and homeware retailer M&Co based in Strathclyde, which has nearly 300 outlets worldwide and plans to open at least 60 new stores by 2022.
The companies in Scotland appear with businesses from around the UK, including Travelodge, Trainline, PureGym and The White Company.
The Top Track 250 is sponsored by Grant Thornton and Lloyds Banking Group, and compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.
Andrew Howie, partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP, the title sponsor of the league table, praised the companies for their performance: “Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, the pervasive challenge of cybercrime, and the uncertain impacts of Brexit are among the significant issues facing Britain today. If we are to continue turning innovative ideas into businesses with international scale, we all need to play our part in shaping a vibrant economy that thrives. In this, the role of the mid-market is crucial. Resilient despite the headwinds, the Top Track 250 are innovating, winning business and adapting to generate value. There is much to learn from them.”
The Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 complements the Top Track 100, published in July, which features Britain’s private companies with the biggest sales. It ranks the next 250-biggest companies by sales, provided they meet our growth and profitability criteria (see below). The 250 companies grew combined sales by 17% to £66.7bn, operating profits by 27% to a record £6.4bn and employees by 10% to 435,000.
The 250 companies are headquartered across the country. London is home to 75 companies and the southeast 38. The northwest has 25, Yorkshire 23, West Midlands 21, Scotland 20, East 14, East Midlands 11, southwest 9, northeast 7, Northern Ireland 4, and Wales has 3.
The full league table was published last Sunday as a 10-page supplement within the business section of The Sunday Times on October 7. A digital copy available at: www.fasttrack.co.uk.