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Region's firms make it into the Top Track 250
Surrey-based Mouchel, which designs and supervises big infrastructure projects worldwide, was the top-placed Thames Valley entry in the latest Sunday Times Top Track 250 league table.
This chart is the sister publication of Top Track 100, which identifies Britain’s 100 private companies with the biggest sales. The table ranks the 250 next biggest private companies, provided either sales or operating profits have increased by at least 10% in their latest available accounts.
Mouchel came in at number 11 nationally after making a major recovery over the past two years. Its roots go back to 1888, but unsustainable debt and public sector spending cuts forced the listed company into administration in 2012, with its banks – RBS, Lloyds and Barclays – writing off £87 million debts for an 80% stake, management retaining the other 20%.
Chief executive Grant Rumbles returned the Woking- headquartered company to profitability in 2013 when sales hit £555m (£38.1m profit) through its staff of over 6.600.
Ridgeway (12th), the Newbury car dealership founded 17 years ago with just one Audi and two Volkswagen outlets, has continued to grow strongly in southern England under chairman David Newman and chief executive John O’Hanlon, and now has s staff of over 1,000. It added its first Maserati franchise in March and now has marques that include BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Mini. Profits last year were £11.3m from sales of £547m.
Founded in 2000 by chairman and chief executive Alastair Storey, WSH (17th) of Reading can thank local contract caterer BaxterStorey for generating three-fifths of sales. It now employs a staff of over 11,000 and other brands include Benugo, which has cafes at tourist attractions such as Edinburgh Castle and the Natural History Museum. Sales of £534m last year generated profits of £23.2m.
Opus Energy (39th) of Oxford supplies electricity and gas to more than 200,000 British businesses. In 2006 – four years after being founded – International Power (now GDF Suez) took a 30% stake and signed a long-term supply deal giving Opus access to the wholesale electricity markets. Managing director and co-founder Charlie Crossley Cooke now has a staff of 480 which clocked up £20.4m profit from sales of £433m in the year to March.
One of Britain’s first budget hotel chains, Travelodge (40th) based at Thame, was launched in 1985 and now operates 518 establishments. In 2012 it refinanced with a £700m debt-for-equity swap in which Goldman Sachs and two New York hedge funds took control. Chief executive Peter Gowers heads the firm which made £5.6m profit from £432m sales last year, and intends to invest £100m in 12 new hotels this year.
Softcat (52nd) at Marlow sources and resells software, hardware, security systems, data storage and IT services to companies, the NHS and local authorities. Founded in 1993, it recently opened branches in Manchester and London. Managing director Colin Brown has a staff of 575 and recorded profits of £27.5m from £395m sales.
More than 700,000 customers buy wine from Reading firm Direct Wines (84th), which sells under its Laithwaite’s brand and runs wine clubs in Britain, Australia and the US in conjunction with newspapers that include The Sunday Times. President Tony Laithwaite, who founded the business in 1969, now employs 800 staff and in November sold Virgin Wines for £16m. Profits were £11.8m from £307m sales.
Wellness Foods (113th) at Chertsey provides most of the big supermarkets with own- label prepared fruit, freshly squeezed juice, smoothies and fresh-fruit desserts. This year the group agreed to sell luxury granola maker Dorset Cereals
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER14/JANUARY15
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to Associated British Foods and sell Rowse Honey to Ireland’s Valeo Foods, for undisclosed sums. Founded in 2005, Wellness is majority-owned by Irish entrepreneurs JP McManus, John Magnier and Dermot Desmond, and now employs nearly 1,500 people. Profits were £10.3m from £239m sales.
The Reading business Huntswood (162nd) handles regulatory issues for banks, pension firms and insurance companies. Founded in 1996, it counts the top six high street banks and other FTSE
100 companies as clients. In the past two years financial services providers have come under greater scrutiny from regulators, which has helped sales to grow 39% to £190m (£42.4m profit) in 2013 under chief executive Craig Coffield.
Other companies from the region that made the lower reaches of the table were Fresh Direct, the Bicester food distributor (181), Michael J Lonsdale, the Slough engineering contractor (197), Lucy Switchgear, the Oxford electrical component manufacturer (224) and Gamma, the Newbury telecoms network operator (233).
The 10th annual 250 table was compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track and sponsored by Grant Thornton.
In the February issue of The Business Magazine
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