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Thames Valley firms making it into the Tech Track 100


An Ascot-based company that was spun out of defence firm Qinetiq in 2000 proved to be the regional star in the latest Tech Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s private tech firms with the fastest- growing sales over the past three years.


ZBD Solutions, which has developed ultra low-power bistable LCD screens that can be used as a high-tech paper substitute, was the only Thames Valley company to make the top 10, coming in at number five.


Backed by DFJ Esprit, TTP Ventures, Dow Chemical Company and Trillium International, its customers include supermarket chains in 20 European countries which use e-paper for price labels – changing prices and customer information remotely. Uses are also being found in other sectors including manufacturing and healthcare.


With a staff of 60, ZBD’s sales grew 213% a year from £396,000 in 2009 to £12.1 million in 2012 under chief executive Shaun Gray.


The only other Thames Valley company to make the national top 20 was BCS Global, which from its headquarters in Slough – and offices in Toronto and Hong Kong – provides cloud-based videoconferencing services to customers in 97 countries. In the UK the NHS uses it to support smokers who want to quit.


BCS (listed 15th in the table) was founded in 2001 by MCI WorldCom, now part of Verizon and listed on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange in 2003 before being taken private in London two years later. Under chief executive Clive Sawkins sales have grown as videoconferencing technology has improved and more people embrace services such as Skype and Apple’s FaceTime. With a small staff of 20, sales grew 138% a year to £5.9m in 2011.


One other company to make the top 30, P2i at Abingdon, was listed at number 27. The firm makes machines that can protect products from water damage by applying a liquid-repellent coating one-thousandth the thickness


of a human hair. This is used on products including Motorola smartphones, Timberland shoes and hearing aids. Sales grew 91% a year to £6m in 2011.


One other company in the region made the top 50 – Supermassive Games at Guildford (38th).


Games developer Supermassive was founded in 2007 by brothers Pete and Joe Samuels, who started by making family-friendly games for Sony for the launch of Playstation 3’s Move controller. Sales grew 76% a year to £5.7m in 2011.


Just missing out on the top 50 were Invenio Business Solutions at Reading (51) and Oxford Immunotec at Abingdon (52).


Software consultancy Invenio has helped businesses become more efficient since it was launched in 2006 by three former Siemens employees. Sales grew 60% a year to £5.5m in 2012.


Immunotec is a University of Oxford spin-out which sells its tuberculosis diagnosis product to hospitals in over 40 countries, with sales increasing 59% a year to £8m in 2011.


Eight other Thames Valley companies made the lower reaches of the 100 league table:


Siracom (69) at Basingstoke provides wireless IT services for primary and secondary and grew sales 50% a year to £7.8m in 2011.


Staffcare (71) at Leatherhead is launching products to help companies cope with changing pensions regulations. Sales grew 49% a year to £5.7m in 2012.


CSA Waverley (72) at Wooburn Green provides IT services for mainly public sector clients, specialising in health, and grew sales 48% a year to £24.5m in 2011.


Innovise (83) at Slough is an IT company that has bought 13 other companies in eight years and now has more than 700 customers. Sales grew 44% a year to £19m in 2011.


Farncombe (90) at Basingstoke is a digital TV consultancy which


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2012 www.businessmag.co.uk


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built the platform that underpins Freeview’s digital terrestrial TV service. Its sales grew 41% a year to £7m in 2011.


Autologic Diagnostics (93) at Wheatley sells its software to 5,500 independent car workshops, mostly in the US. Sales grew 39% a year to £15m in 2011.


Portal (96) at Bracknell offers IT consultancy services as well as reselling IBM products. Sales grew 39% a year to £21.1m in 2012.


Zinc Ahead (97) at Oxford helps life science companies avoid regulatory and compliance mistakes in their promotional materials. Sales grew 39% a year to £7.2m in 2012.


The 12th annual Tech Track 100 table supplement was published in The Sunday Times with title sponsor Hiscox, and was compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track.


Business THE TM MAGAZINE:DIGITAL


Read these stories in full in the current issue of The Business


Magazine:Digital at www.businessmag.co.uk


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