news opinion
Growth. It’s something all businesses want to achieve. And, despite the economic uncertainty in the UK at present, it’s remarkable how many companies manage it
We highlight the Solent 250 in this issue – our annual listing of the top privately- owned businesses in the Solent region. Here, the total combined turnover of companies featured has grown by over 12% in the past year.
Elsewhere in this publication, we report on some of the challenges facing businesses. Digitalisation is one – how can technology make for a more productive workplace?
Another is human talent. The roundtable on learning how to work focused on an excellent initiative between one renowned Reading school, an accountancy firm, and various employers and agencies. It’s all about ensuring young people make a successful transition from education to employment.
Productivity gains require a combination of people and technology. They also are an absolutely paramount benefit of creating a good workplace environment.
Our main feature this issue looks at some examples of inspiring workplaces. In the south, we are fortunate to have excellent fit-out and office design experts. Transforming the office in which your employees work to a modern, collaborative space helps cultivate talent.
Not every building lends itself to a makeover, but there are many inspirational examples of modern workplaces in the Thames Valley and Solent regions which suggest that the nature of work is fundamentally changing.
Finally, productivity can also be enhanced by rewarding your teams through winning acclaim from your peers. We focus on our latest awards events in this issue, and wish all our winners and finalists – and indeed all our readers – a happy Christmas and a successful, prosperous 2020.
David Murray Publisher
4
businessmag.co.uk Making it to the Top Tech
Thames Valley A company spun out of the University of Oxford in 2005 has proved itself a roaring success by making the top five in the latest league table for sales growth among tech companies in the UK.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies specialises in compact DNA/RNA sequencing technology for biological research, and has developed devices that help scientists identify bacteria and viruses, track disease outbreaks and study the DNA of humans, animals and plants.
Led by co-founder and chief executive Gordon Sanghera, it now has a staff of some 440 people and sells to nearly 100 countries. Revenues hit £32.5 million last year, giving an average sales growth over three years of 251%.
It has also £451m in funding from investors including Woodford, and was valued at £1.5 billion in March.
The company gained fifth place – the highest by far of any of its rivals based in the Thames Valley – in the latest Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 table, which ranks Britain’s 100 private tech (TMT) companies with the fastest- growing sales over their latest three years.
Five other companies from the region also made the top 100, headed by Account Technologies (48th) based at High Wycombe. It helps people who find it difficult to obtain an overdraft from their banks, having developed software to analyse individuals’ bank transactions. It then identifies and manages risks before approving loans.
The company also tracks customers’ daily balances and deposits money when the balance drops below a pre- agreed level to avoid customers falling into unauthorised overdrafts and incurring charges.
Its inception came in 2011 and since then the company has expanded to almost 200 employees across offices in London and High Wycombe, launching its first product SafetyNet Credit in 2012. Turnover – from interest charged on loans it approves – hit £68.2m last year (average annual sales growth 87%) with operating profits of £19.3m.
Also just making the top 50 was Gigaclear, the Abingdon company specialising in supplying high-speed broadband services to rural areas.
It has connected tens of thousands of rural customers across the UK since being founded in 2010. By targeting households that had been ignored by conventional telecoms providers, Gigaclear has carved out a niche for itself, developing a framework from similar operators in Sweden and Holland.
With a staff of some 240 people, sales reached £9m last year, setting an annual average of 87%. Gareth Williams took over as chief executive in February, when majority owner Infracapital led an £85m funding round.
Payen (55th in table) based in Guildford was founded in 2010 by chief executive Alexander MacAngus and chief commercial officer Richard Smith. It spent four years on development before releasing its payment processing platform for online retailers. The business also helps clients increase their credit card acceptance rates worldwide, reducing “basket abandonment”. It operates in 12 currencies, with the majority of revenue coming from international markets.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
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