news opinion Full charge ahead


Electric Avenue, in Brixton, was the first market street to be lit by electricity. The electric avenues of the future will see battery-powered cars silently gliding down the road, and pulling into parking bays complete with their own charging points.


And the future is almost here. Nearly all motorway service stations (98%) have at least one rapid charger where you can recharge your car up to 80% in 30 minutes or less.


The Government has announced that all new diesel and petrol cars will be banned from our roads from 2040.


In fact, the car industry is ahead of Whitehall. Some manufacturers have already announced they are to stop building diesel and petrol cars; others will follow. The fully electric MINI will be built at Cowley, Oxford, by BMW from 2019. Volvo will only make electric or hybrid cars from 2019 onwards.


The Government should be accelerating its timetable. Let’s get dirty diesels off our roads as soon as we can. That means incentives to motorists to trade in their old diesel vehicle for a new car; and it means increased investment in battery technology to ensure that manufacturers can keep up with demand and that Britain, which has always been at the forefront of such engineering, can lead the world.


A scrappage scheme should be introduced in the Autumn Statement – aimed at getting the oldest, most polluting cars off our roads. And there should be a government-sponsored awards scheme – to promote leading- edge designs and initiatives to ensure Britain’s carmakers and the IT industry are encouraged to ‘think big’ – just like Elon Musk and Tesla have done.


The electric revolution is a fantastic opportunity for Britain’s tech and manufacturing minds to show the world how innovative we can be. It’s an exciting future that we can’t wait to report on.


David Murray Publisher


4 businessmag.co.uk


Local companies make the International Top Track 200


Berkshire gained six entries in this year’s International Track 200 table, which ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest-growing international sales measured over their latest two years of available accounts.


Pride of place, however, went to High Wycombe-based Green Tech Distribution (in runner-up spot), which was set up in 2010 by chief executive Richard Crawley and chief operating officer Lucky Anand. It still has a small staff of just 28 but managed total sales of £160 million.


Besides recycling, the firm now offers other services such as repairing and reselling handsets, and wiping data. International sales hit £106.7m this year – a two-year average of nearly 300% – boosted by a partnership with Samsung to operate its service desks in stores across Belgium and Holland, as well as expansion into new markets and a weaker pound.


A Reading company making the top 20 was Austin Fraser (14th), which was founded in 2007 by Peter Hart and Derek Simpson to specialise in recruitment for the technology, digital, life science, automation and aviation sectors. It now employs some 120 people across the UK, America and Germany.


International sales more than doubled to £11m (averaging 116%) from total sales of £40.4m, enabling the company to invest in increased office space in Texas and to launch a second German office in Berlin..


Another High Wycombe firm, Optima Contracting, was 35th in the table. It designs, manufactures and installs glazed partitioning products for offices, and with factories in Britain and Malaysia it has grown across the Middle East, Australia and Singapore.


With a staff of 350 under group chief executive Nick Caley, overseas sales reached £9.7m in 2016 (average growth 80%) from total sales of £52.5m.


Ability Matters at Abingdon (38th) makes and distributes prosthetic and postural mobility devices, and provides treatment services to patients from Europe, China, the Middle East and Africa. As well as clinics and facilities in Britain it has offices in Ireland, France and Holland – total staff now 530 – which helped overseas sales to £9.4m in 2015 under founder Michael O’Byrne.


In the past five years Slough-based Chiltern International Group (61st) has conducted almost 2,000 clinical trials in 47 countries for clients in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Chief executive Jim Esinhart saw international turnover reach £331.3m last year, partly due to acquisitions.


Reading-based Westcoast (69th), which makes regular appearances in performance tables, was established in 1984 by chairman Joe Hemani to distribute IT products and services around Europe. Last year it bought out its Adveo joint venture in France, helping international sales reach £321.2m in 2016.


Alfa Technical Industries (86th) distributes a wide range of chemicals from its Binfield base, from anti-ageing ingredients to industrial waxes, with its coatings business making products for the construction industry. Led by owner and managing director Mark Walker, sales reached £9m in 2015.


Three companies in the region made the lower reaches of the table, with Reading- based Teneo at no. 131. It helps 1,500 companies including Mott MacDonald and Schneider Electric to optimise IT networks. Founded in 2000 by chief executive Piers Carey, it opened a US operation in 2006 and has since set up offices in France and Australia. Two acquisitions in America helped overseas turnover reach £15.4m in 2016.


Bullitt Group at Reading (no.161) designs and produces branded consumer electronics products under licence from global brands such as Caterpillar and Kodak. The business sells to more than 70 countries and last year’s international sales hit £92.1m, representing more than 90% of total revenue.


With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong, Practicus at Henley (no.175) provides project and change management services for clients including Axa and BP, and also works with global financial institutions. Chairman Jason Luckhurst co-founded the firm in 2004 and oversaw international sales of £10m last year.


* The International Track 200 is published every summer by The Sunday Times, sponsored by HSBC and compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SEPTEMBER 2017


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