news 5 On track for success
Two Berkshire companies were just outside the top 50 of the Top Track 100, published recently. WSH at Reading (no 53) provides catering services under brands such as Baxter Storey, Benugo, Cater Link and Holroyd Howe, and this year won a multi-million-pound deal from The Royal Bank of Scotland.
In February, Intermediate Capital replaced MML Capital as minority investor, taking a 20% stake for an undisclosed sum. Founder Alastair Storey is chairman and chief executive of the company that made £17.9 million profit from sales of £406m in the year to December 2011, when it employed over 9,500 staff.
Newbury-based 2e2 (no 56) specialises in IT services and includes The Royal Bank of Scotland and John Lewis among its clients and has joint ventures with O2 and McAfee. Founders Terry Burt and Mark McVeigh are expanding the firm, and the £70m acquisition in 2010 of peer company Morse helped sales grow 24% in 2011 to £403.6m. Majority
investor Duke Street is reportedly considering a sale.
Airwave at Slough (no 59) provides secure digital radio-communication systems for Britain’s public service organisations, covering 99% of mainland Britain, and supplied a private mobile radio service for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2007 Macquarie paid Telefonica £1.9 billion for the company which saw profits rally to £58.7m in 2011 from sales of £390m.
Direct Wines at Reading (no 81) was founded in 1969 by Tony Laithwaite and sells wine direct to customers under the Laithwaite’s and Virgin brands, clocking up sales of £343m.
Oxfordshire’s top companies in the list were Kaspersky Lab at Abingdon (no 89), a cyber-security firm founded by cryptologist Eugene Kaspersky 15 years ago (sales almost £336m), and Travelodge at Thame (no 90) which in August was acquired by Goldman Sachs and two New York hedge funds following sales of £335m from 500 hotels across Britain.
Home secretary visits Maidenhead's Scientifica
Scientifica was delighted to welcome home secretary Theresa May, MP for Maidenhead, to its Maidenhead manufacturing facility in November. May visited the company, which this year secured a Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade, to celebrate its recent achievements and find out more about Scientifica’s plans for the future.
Scientifica, which specialises in the manufacture and distribution of innovative, market-leading equipment for
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electrophysiology researchers, now sells into more than 30 countries and has 17 international distributors. The company has grown its sales by at least 20% a year for the past six years.
“The interesting fact about Maidenhead is that there are a lot of small companies doing great things globally – people driving past a company like this won’t know that you’re exporting 80% of your products,” said May during her visit. “Scientifica is a good example of quality of innovation, work and customer service. Maidenhead is proud of having you here and you should be proud too. Congratulations on your award.”
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise recognises the contribution that export has made to Scientifica’s growth over recent years. Today, 80% of the company’s business is achieved through overseas sales.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 12/JANUARY 13
Motor retailer Ridgeway Group at Newbury (no 91) was founded 15 years ago with just one Audi and two Volkswagen outlets, but racked up sales of almost £333m in 2011.
Other Thames Valley companies making the lower reaches of the table were: IT reseller Softcat at Marlow (no 104, sales £307.8m), car dealer Hartwell at Oxford (no 144, sales £258.5m), bed retailer Dreams at High Wycombe (no 145, sales £256.1m), security software developer Sophos at Abingdon (no 169, sales £228.9m), health food manufacturer Wellness Foods at Chertsey (no 178, sales £221.6m), Medina Dairy at Windsor (no 206, sales £197m), ejector seat manufacturer Martin-Baker at Uxbridge (no 209, sales £194.3m), Furniture Village at Slough (no 231, sales £180.7m) and sealing & railway systems group James Walker at Woking (no 242, sales £173.6m).
The eighth Top Track 250 table was sponsored by Grant Thornton and researched by Oxford-based Fast Track.
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