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Interesting times ahead in 2018?


We live in interesting times. But, please, can 2018 be a little less interesting?


In 2017 we had a general election, two Budgets, interminable Brexit negotiations, Donald Trump and North Korea, plus too many terrorist outrages to document here.


So, we can only hope that 2018 is a great deal duller. Although some entrepreneurs create disruptive products, technologies and services, most businesses thrive on stability. If they know that politicians are unlikely to throw a curve-ball in the months ahead, it helps with forward planning.


So what are we likely to see in 2018? Growth is expected to slow to 1.5%, so there will be no recession this year. Inflation is likely to reduce a little, and as for interest rates, there may be another increase towards the tail-end of the year. Those are not my predictions, but those of more than 100 leading economists surveyed recently.


Politically, Theresa May will probably still be prime minister in December – as no-one else wants the job. Jeremy Corbyn might actually have peaked although it is notoriously hard to predict domestic sentiment when so much of modern-day politics is seen through the prism of Brexit negotiations.


And in the region? Reading will continue its momentum, with Oxford also reaping the benefits of recent investment. On the South Coast, Southampton is confounding some ‘experts’ by continuing to grow strongly – creating jobs too, with Hampshire’s jobless totals reducing by 26,000 over a three- month period.


We have reasons to be cheerful about 2018, then. And to hope that Nostradamus has got it wrong (again). He predicts a series of natural disasters, and the start of World War 3 ...


David Murray Publisher


4 businessmag.co.uk


Hitting the fast track in the Thames Valley


A Basingstoke-based construction company which builds retirement homes across the south of England is the highest- ranked Thames Valley company in the latest Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table ranking Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over their latest three years.


Hackwood Homes (in 11th place) has operations from Norwich to Paignton, with developments typically comprising 30 two-bedroom apartments, the majority sold by its sister business Renaissance Retirement.


Managing director Chris Goddard and construction director Paul Williams were apprentices at the same builder, HN Edwards & Sons, at the same time in 1981, but they did not meet until years later and founded Hackwood Homes in 2006.


The group, also specialists in developing luxurious residential apartments in the UK, more than doubled its sales to £24 million last year (annual average rise 115%), and now with a staff of 89 says it has an order book worth £90m.


A second Thames Valley company made the national top 20 – the 2015 table- toppers GreenTech Distribution at High Wycombe coming in at 15 in the latest listing following ninth place in 2016.


The mobile phone recycler and distributor was set up by chief executive Richard Crawley and chief operating officer Lucky Anand in 2010 when a telecoms distributor that Crawley owned started to receive requests to recycle mobile phones.


GreenTech – still with a small staff of some 30 people – now distributes new phones and devices, including tablets, and specialises in meeting supply shortages, fulfilling most orders within 48 hours. Customers include Vodafone and Carphone Warehouse.


International sales have grown tenfold in the past year to £106.7m. Total sales more than doubled in 2017 to £160.2m, giving an average growth of 105% over three years.


Third place in the region (42nd nationally)


went to Camberley-based Cennox, a company founded in 2004 by former Travelex director Clive Nation to provide anti-fraud and security devices, as well as servicing for cash machines around the world. The business has been backed since 2012 by the growth-capital firm BGF, which has invested a total of £13m.


Last year it acquired Bankers Exchange, a cash machine parts business based in Atlanta, Georgia, helping boost sales to £43.7m (average growth 68%) alongside new US and UK contract wins. Last June it acquired Diebold Nixdorf’s UK and Ireland business, and in July bought the European division of 3SI Security Systems, taking the staff total to some 500.


Nutriment, the raw pet food manufacturer also based at Camberley, reached sales of £5.5m (average annual growth 63%) to make 50th place in the national table. It attributes its success to customers wanting to be better informed about what they are feeding their pets, and plans to open a third factory in 2018.


Managing director Suzanne Brock remortgaged her house and used a loan from her mother to start the firm in 2013. With a staff of just 35 it produces four ranges of frozen dog food, including an organic range, for sale on its website and through retailers such as Ocado and farm shops. Top sellers also include cat food, dog bowls and pet shampoo.


A Guildford company with the unusual name of Giggling Squid was 60th in the table with sales of £18.4m in 2017 (average growth 59%).


Husband and wife team Andy and Pranee Laurillard set up this Thai restaurant business in 2009, opening their first branded site in Hove the following year. It now offers what it calls “Thai tapas” in more than 20 cities across southern England and the Midlands.


To help fund expansion it secured £6.4m in 2015 from the growth-capital firm BGF, which took a minority stake. Sales have been helped by six new openings, not counting its first London eatery which opened in Wimbledon in November. The group currently employs a staff of 400.


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