~rising stars~ 17. BrainJuicer
Turnover: £16.3m (+38%) Pre-tax profits: £2.2m (+33%) Sector: Market research Based: London Market research business BrainJuicer has spent the past decade building up credibility in the market, a strategy that CFO James Geddes says is starting to pay off. ‘We do things a little differently,’ he says. ‘We go beyond what would be normal quantitative research.’ With the company geared towards clients at the larger end of the spectrum, Geddes says that BrainJuicer’s progress can largely be attributed to organic growth, with offices set up in seven countries around the world. With its industry reputation solidified, the Central London-based business can now look to cash in on its hard work with consistent future expansion.
21. iEnergizer
Turnover: £30.1m (+42%) Pre-tax profits: £9.9m (+41%) Sector: Business process outsourcing Based: Guernsey In only its first year on AIM (it raised £37 million at float), business process outsourcing (BPO) company iEnergizer has seen revenues jump by 42 per cent. The Guernsey-based outfit operates most of its business from India and has looked to grow its international client base with a focus on the US and the UK. Chairman Sara Latham says iEnergizer has concentrated its efforts on producing ‘sustained top-line growth’, while also maintaining operating margins at more than 30 per cent, which she reveals is a unique performance for a BPO company. As is the fact that almost all of the reported revenue increase has been derived from organic growth.
18. Skrill
Turnover: £43m (+57%) Pre-tax profits: £19m (+37%) Sector: Business services Based: London Launched in 2001, Skrill was the first e-money issuer to be awarded an electronic money licence from the Financial Services Authority. Originally Moneybookers, the business has been rebranded and now counts nearly 100,000 merchants as users of its payments service, including global partners such as eBay, Skype and Thomas Cook. The company prides itself on its delivery of full technical support, proven anti-fraud measures and reliable customer service.
19. TBG Digital
Turnover: £23.8m (+47%) Pre-tax profits: £25.4 m (+46%) Sector: Advertising/Marketing Based: London TBG Digital is a global marketing and technology company specialising in Facebook advertising and social media marketing. It was founded in 2001 by Simon Mansell and now has offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Paris and Hamburg, managing campaigns for more than 90 advertisers. Chief operating officer Kate Lavender describes the year so far as ‘insane’, and with projected sales for 2011 expected to hit £59 million (up from £24.5 million in 2010), it is easy to see why.
22. Abcam
Turnover: £71.1m (+25%) Pre-tax profits: £25.8m (+48%) Sector: Biotechnology Based: Cambridge Early in 1998, in a laboratory at the University of Cambridge, Jonathan Milner was working as a post-doctoral researcher when he and a number of others in the laboratory came up with the idea for a web-based antibody company of like-minded scientists. Abcam – a hybrid of antibody (ab) and Cambridge (cam) – was born. The idea was that the company would sell the best antibodies in the world. Milner says, ‘Our business model continues to deliver strong and defensible growth and we are actively expanding our product offering to include more than just antibodies. We aim to become a world leader in protein detection and regulation.’
23. Cath Kidston
Turnover: £50.4m (+61%) Pre-tax profits: £12.2m (+130%) Sector: Retail Based: London Since opening her first Cath Kidston shop in London’s Holland Park in 1993, aged 34 and with a mere £15,000, the retail entrepreneur has consistently grown the brand and the business. There are now 42 shops and concessions in the UK, two in Ireland, 15 in Japan and four in Korea. In the UK, the business expects to see continued growth in all channels, with a particular emphasis on increasing its brand presence through its retail outlets and online.
34 business xl 20. Solid State
Turnover: £21.2m (+57%) Pre-tax profits: £1.2m (+130%) Sector: Electrical components Based: Kent CEO Gary Marsh is proud of the performance of his business over the past year – especially the triple- digit hike in profits. Among other achievements, the group acquired Rugged Systems – a business that supplies mobile computer, communications and display services – and this outfit is already delivering a return. Marsh says the company is looking to build on its three key sectors of battery packs, general computer systems and the component market with some ‘solid’ projects in the pipeline. Organic growth is likely to be the way forward this year.
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