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Region's profit track record slipping
Can the Thames Valley’s reputation as one of the most profitable business areas in the UK be slipping?
The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s top private companies with the fastest- growing profits over a three- year period, has featured a dozen or so companies from this region for the past three years, but that number has been halved in the latest table.
In the 2015 listing, in which a typical company is medium- sized (between 100-1,000 staff), managed by founders or family directors and can boast profits ranging from £3 million- £40m, only one Thames Valley company made the top 20. That was Krispy Kreme (19th), the Surrey doughnut retailer and wholesaler.
The UK franchise owner of the Krispy Kreme brand opened its first British outlet in Harrods in 2003. It has since opened another 50 stores – total staff now over 1,000 – while its 16 varieties of doughnuts are also sold in self-service cabinets in more than 500 Tesco stores and service stations.
Haven Burke founded the Camberley-based retailer after securing the franchise agreement from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc, before Alcuin Capital and Indigo Capital acquired a majority stake for an undisclosed sum in 2011. Under chief executive Mike Dowell the company made a £6.2m profit last year, giving it a three-year average of over 84%.
Just missing out on a top 20 spot was The Entertainer (21st), the High Wycombe firm that has been built into the biggest independent toy retailer in Britain, now employing some 1,200 people in 98 stores. Profits hit £6.8m in the year to January 2014, giving it a three-year average of over 81%.
Founded in 1981 by husband and wife team Gary and Catherine Grant, it has a franchised store in Dubai and
plans to use this model to enable further international growth. The retailer also operates website thetoyshop. com.
Huntswood, the Reading business that handles customer complaints and regulatory issues for UK banks, pension firms and insurance companies, was just behind in 23rd place, moving up from its 55th placing two years ago – and has also featured in the Fast Track 100 table three times.
The company made profits of £44m last year (average 81% over three years) on sales of £250.1m, boosted by increased scrutiny of financial services providers.
Founded in 1996, the business started life as a recruitment consultancy. Private equity firm 3i bought a 30% stake in 2003, which the management bought back six years later. Huntswood is led by chief executive Craig Coffield and owned by founder David Brownlow and the management, which now employs more than 1,300 staff.
Another Reading company, Expro International (28th), has featured in the sister Fast Track table in five of the past six years. Global expansion and large contracts are helping to drive growth at this oilfield services provider which now operates around the world.
Under chief executive Charles Woodburn the company announced a £133m, four-year contract in January to provide well-testing and fluid-sampling services to Statoil Petroleum for its operations on the Norwegian continental shelf. In 2014 profits were £101.6m, up almost 76% annually over the past three years. Founded in 1973, it now employs 5,800 people across 50 countries.
The Hampshire company CV- Library (49th) has made the top 50 for the second year running, after new customers and repeat business helped profits to reach £6.3m in 2014 (rising over 60% annually).
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2015
The Fleet-based business is an online job site where job seekers can post their CV. In total it stores 8.3m CVs that are accessed, for a fee, by recruitment agencies and companies including Rolls- Royce, Virgin Holidays and Royal Mail. Founded in 2000 by Lee Biggins with a £9,000 loan, it now has a staff of 82 and last year launched its Resume Library recruitment site in America.
Xeretec (60th), the Wokingham- based company that is Xerox’s largest partner and provider of managed print services in Europe, was founded in 1991 and now employs over 200 staff.
The group supplies hardware ranging from small office to large production print equipment, software to maximise productivity, and consumables. Under managing director Steve Hawkins profits reached £4m in 2014, averaging a 53% rise. The group bought £20m-turnover business Bytes Document Solutions last year, which has now been rebranded as Xeretec Document Solutions.
• The Profit Track 100 table, in which around 25% of the companies have private equity backing, is compiled annually by Oxford-based Fast Track.
In the July/August issue of The Business Magazine
• Thames Valley 250 • Pensions & Auto-enrolment • Doing Business with China
• Focus on Windsor & Maidenhead • International Trade
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