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Tracking down the profit


Guildford fitness chain The Gym, a founded by former England squash player John Treharne in 2007, quickened the pace of its profits to become the leading Thames Valley company in this year’s Profit Track 100 league table.


The business offers low-cost membership without contracts and now has 42 health clubs nationwide. It was started with funding from Bridges Ventures, which invested £17.5 million and then sold its 85% stake to Phoenix Equity Partners last year in a deal that valued the company at £90m.


Profits were £3.7m in 2012, showing an average profit growth over the past three years of over 90%. Now with a staff of 72, the business is merging with rival Pure Gym, a Leeds-based chain that has 71 gyms including sites at Reading and Camberley.


The Gym, placed 16th in the national table, is one of several new names from the region that have burst into the table which ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest- growing profits based on their latest three years of available accounts.


Marlow-based FoundOcean, a


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specialist in subsea grouting – the use of concrete and sea water to stabilise pipelines, oil rigs and wind turbines – was at number 18. Chairman Keith Miller took the helm when it was founded in 1988 and it now boasts a staff of about 100.


Environmental investor Ambienta bought a minority stake in 2012 for an undisclosed sum. New offshore wind farms have helped the company diversify, and profits hit £3.9m in 2012, showing an average of 85% over three years.


A third new name making the top 20 was CV-Library (19th), a Fleet-based company which runs an online job board where jobseekers can post their CV. In total it stores more than 7 million CVs that are accessed, for a fee, by companies including Rolls- Royce, Virgin Holidays, Ernest Jones and Fiat.


Founded in 2000 by Lee Biggins with a £9,000 loan, it now has a staff of over 50. New customers and repeat business helped profits reach £3.9m in 2013, averaging 84% for the past three years.


Global Personals, the Windsor company that runs 13,000 dating sites, has moved up six places from last year’s 40th position. Founded in 2003 by Ross Williams and Steve Pammenter, the company manages sites for partners such as Baker Media, Plenty More Fish and The Independent. With a staff of 135 it also has its own dating sites in niche categories based on age, ethnicity or interests. Profits reached £5.1m in 2013.


Another group moving up the table is Leasedrive (36th), the vehicle management firm created in 2007 through the merger with Velo. It leases 42,000 cars and vans to blue-chip companies across Britain and also advises on fuel efficiency and taxation. After buying rival Masterlease in 2011, managing director David Bird saw his staff of


some 300 lift profits to £13.4m in 2012, and is currently integrating its operations with Zenith, a competitor also owned by HgCapital.


VerdErg (40th), based at Knaphill near Woking, specialises in renewable energy and subsea connectors for oil pipelines. The company was founded in 1979 to develop new technology to harvest tidal energy. Europe is its mainstay, but last year it also provided submersibles to clients in Angola and Canada. Managing director Peter Roberts led a management buyout in 2005 and now with a staff of over 60 saw profits rose to £3.5m in 2013.


The Oxford group Unipart, which provides manufacturing, logistics and consultancy services, maintained its 54th position. The firm specialises in engineering supply chains for customers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Vodafone, BSkyB and Homebase. Chairman and chief executive John Neill has led the group since it formed in 1987 and it now has a staff of some 7,500, growing profits to £27.6m in 2012.


Newbury-based Gamma Telecom 74th) provides multimedia communication, cloud-based call control and traditional telecom services to a wide variety of British businesses. Under chief executive Bob Falconer it saw profits hit £10.1m in 2012.


Three other companies from the region made the lower regions of the table. Wireless Logic at Beaconsfield (76) provides software platforms and telecoms infrastructure as well as Sim card connectivity for wireless transmission of data between devices. The Entertainer at High Wycombe (88) claims to be the biggest independent toy retailer in the UK with 91 stores, and Hartwell of Oxford (99) just squeezed into the table after opening its first store in Dubai.


The Profit Track 100 is published by the Sunday Times and compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2014


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