news 5 On track for profit


As a student Tony Laithwaite spent his summers working in the vineyards of Bordeaux. And the experience he gained obviously paid off as he went on to found one of the country’s top wine selling companies.


Reading-based Direct Wines – which now employs over 900 people – sells to consumers under the brands Laithwaites Wine, Virgin Wines and Averys, and also markets wine clubs in partnership with top newspapers including The Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal and the German paper Die Welt.


Thanks to customer-service initiatives such as assigning a personal wine adviser to valued customers, and overseas expansion, profits over the past three years increased by 99% a year from £1.9 million in 2008 to £14.7m in 2011. It was enough to make the company the most successful in the Thames Valley, according to the latest Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100 league table.


The table, which annually ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years of available audited accounts, placed Direct Wines at No. 11 nationally. Another of the region’s companies making the top 20 was Britax Childcare, the Chertsey-based company that specialises in producing child-safety products including car seats, pushchairs and bicycle seats, and distributes them to more than 40 countries.


Britax (19th) now stamps barcodes on its seats which, when scanned with a mobile phone, link parents to a website that demonstrates the correct installation procedures. Nordic Capital bought the firm in 2010 from Carlyle Group in a £450m secondary buyout and, under chief executive Karl Kahofer, profits grew 92% a year to £30.1m in 2010.


Wireless Logic, the Beaconsfield firm that provides sim cards, software and communications infrastructure for wireless transmission of data between devices, was third in the Thames Valley list and 26th nationally after profits rose 80% a year to £3.2m in 2011.


The diverse applications for its technology include card-payment handsets, vehicle trackers and CCTV cameras. Co-founded in 1999 by managing director Oliver Tucker and


sales director Phil Cole, the company was part of the Phones International group owned by Peter Jones (of Dragons’ Den fame) from 2002 to 2009. Last year ECI Partners backed a £35m management buyout.


The Great Missenden-based insurance consultancy Hampden (31st) provides administrative and claims services to insurers. Founded in 1979 by chairman Tim Oliver, its main lines of business are winding down insurers that have ceased writing new business and advising and administering the affairs of 1,500 clients who underwrite in the Lloyd’s insurance market.


Profits increased 76% a year to £31.6m in 2010, largely through acquisitions.


Rebound Electronics at Newbury (43rd) sources electronic components from manufacturers around the world to sell to clients such as Sony, Siemens and Honeywell. Last year it sold 1.1 billion parts used in cars, televisions and mobile phones as well as in medical and military technology.


Co-founder Simon Thake attributes the company’s growth to acquisitions and investments in Britain, Germany, Switzerland and America which led to new and repeat custom. Profits rose 69% a year to £7.6m in 2010.


The Guildford company ID Business Solutions (46th) was founded by chief executive Neil Kipling in 1989 as a consultancy for research- and-development firms. Two acquisitions in the past three years have allowed it to diversify into healthcare and business planning, which helped lift profits 67% a year from £1.4m in 2007 to £6.4m in 2010.


Noble Foods at Tring (48th) delivers 72 million eggs each week, mainly to leading supermarket chains. Also processing poultry and owning the dessert maker Gü, profits grew 66% a year.


Five other companies in the region made the lower half of the league table. Catalyst (51st) of High Wycombe sells electronic tags to prevent theft of clothing and alcohol to security- conscious retailers facing a rise in shoplifting in the recession. With clients including Tesco, Arcadia and Sainsbury’s, profits increased 63% a year.


Global retail technology supplier chooses Chineham Park for HQ


DigiPOS, the global expert in retail hardware and software solutions, has moved its UK headquarters to larger premises at MEPC Chineham Park, Basingstoke’s leading business location.


Chineham Park managing director Rupert Batho explained: “Following a restructure last year, DigiPOS needed to move to larger premises of 23,000 sq ft to support its


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2012


growing business in the UK and abroad. Working in partnership with Digipos, Number 1 Beechwood has been completely refurbished."


Established in 1994, DigiPOS designs, develops and manufactures its own range of systems, displays and related retail technology. DigiPOS is a UK company with offices in 12 other countries around the world.


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Small business owners sacrifice personal life to keep on track


Forty nine percent of small business owners in London and the South East have not taken a sick day in three years and 23% work more than 45 hours a week, according to new research from Clydesdale Bank . . .


Bosses sick of Twitter timewasters


An increasing number of employers are getting fed up by the amount of time their employees are spending on Twitter, according to a new study . . .


South East construction industry needs more women


South East construction companies should take steps to attract more women to meet the industry’s need to attract top talent, according to the findings of a survey conducted on the CITB-ConstructionSkills website this month . . .


State Oil (57th) of Weybridge imports fuel from oil companies, which it blends before selling it under the Prax Petroleum brand to clients; profits grew 58% a year. Keystone Legal (63rd) at Aldershot provides legal expenses insurance that lets individuals and companies take legal action against larger firms or insurance companies; its profits grew 56% a year.


APM Group (69th) at High Wycombe is a certification body that has developed an accreditation and qualification scheme for Prince 2, the project-management methodology used by the British government and owned by the Cabinet Office; its profits grew 53% a year. Audley Travel (90th) of Witney offers adventurous travellers bespoke holidays worldwide, bringing profits growth of 45% a year.


The Profit Track 100 is compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track.


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