THAMES VALLEY 250


®


£18 billion of talent on 250 list of private companies


The Thames Valley 250 – our multi-billion-pound listing of the top private companies in the region – is unveiled this month


The 2012 listing will be the third year of the TV250 which has become established as the key ranking of privately-owned businesses that have their headquarters in the Thames Valley.


From companies with sales measured at over £1,000 million to firms with £10m turnover, the 250 lists the most successful businesses in the area.


Based on accounts at Companies House, plus financial data sources such as Experian and OneSource, the TV 250 is compiled by The Business Magazine and sponsored by HSBC, business advisers Grant Thornton and law firm Blandy & Blandy.


It’s a listing of unquoted companies, ranked by turnover, and using, where possible, the last published accounts. Foreign-owned companies are excluded, as are businesses that simply have a registered office, rather than their trading office, in the Thames Valley.


This year’s list was launched on July 9 at a drinks reception at Stoke Park, near Slough, and the list in full appears in the pages that follow. The 250 can also be viewed online on our website from this month.


Top of the list, as last year, is the Oxford-based logistics provider Unipart Group with sales up from £1 billion to £1.1b. Second is Urenco, the Marlow-based nuclear fuels specialist, at £1b, and third is Westcoast, the Reading-based IT products supplier, again with £1b in sales.


Companies that have seen big increases in turnover since the previous list include 2e2


Group, the Newbury IT services provider; Softcat, the Marlow-based software licensing and solutions provider; Langley-based service contractors Michael Lonsdale; and acquisitive vehicle management solutions company Leasedrive Group, headquartered at Wokingham.


There have been stories of sales growth across a diversity of business sectors despite the economic downturn.


Overall, the 250 companies recorded a joint turnover of some £17.9b compared with £16.6b in the previous year, suggesting that there has been significant improvement in order books.


At the launch event at Stoke Park, the invited guests were due to hear from HSBC economist Mark Berrisford-Smith about the impact on local companies from global pressures such as the eurozone. Despite the difficult trading conditions, it was encouraging to see so many companies in the Thames Valley successfully growing their business.


The 250 launch also heard from one of those successes – Ella’s Kitchen, the Henley-based producer of organic food for babies and young children.


There were also special presentations to four award-winning companies which had performed exceptionally during the past year.


In the next issue: profiles of winning companies and more from the launch of the 2012 Thames Valley 250.


Details: Linda Morse, events manager linda@elcot.co.uk


Rules of engagement


• Thames Valley 250 companies must be private, independent businesses


• Listed companies (either LSE or foreign stockmarkets) are excluded


• Companies must be trading in the Thames Valley region, with their main headquarters located in the region


• Companies that list their registered office in the region, but don’t trade from that address, are excluded


• Companies that are foreign-owned are excluded


• Universities are included, although it is accepted that some of their income is derived from the public purse


• Businesses in last year’s 250 were asked to submit their latest results; some of these are included as they are more current than our other sources


• Otherwise, Companies House records are used, provided by Experian and OneSource


• In some cases, last year’s turnover, published in the 2011 250, has been updated


• The Thames Valley region is defined as Berkshire, Hampshire (north of Basingstoke), south Bucks, Oxon (south of Banbury) and parts of Surrey etc.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2012


www.businessmag.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52