Look, PM – This Is How You Do a Trade Deal
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February 16, 2020 Researched and compiled by Fast Track BRITAIN’S Title sponsor Main sponsors MID-MARKET PRIVATE COMPANIES WITH THE FASTEST-GROWING INTERNATIONAL OVERSEAS SALES TRACK 200 VICKI COUCHMAN Look, PM – this is how you do a trade deal With Brexit uncertainty clearing, UK firms are using creative thinking and digital know-how to ramp up overseas sales, writes John Elliott alk of international trade is at target for overseas expansion — as Jane fever pitch in Westminster, as Galvin of HSBC explores on page 3. the government hunts a post- Expertise in digital marketing, cou- Brexit deal with the European pled with creative ability, is helping to Union and other trading drive international sales for British online partners. Meanwhile, Brit- retailers. The Newcastle upon Tyne- ain’s leading exporters are based END (No 177), which sells designer showing an impressive menswear, hit exports of £80.9m in 2019, ability to increase their inter- up from £45.8m in 2017. The company national sales amid political with the biggest overseas sales on the and economic uncertainty. table is the Hut Group (No 146), an online TThe mid-market private companies in beauty and health retailer, with interna- the 11th annual Sunday Times HSBC tional sales of £608m in 2018. International Track 200 have on average Many companies are investing in tech- achieved a 64% annual rise in inter- nology to give them an edge in global national sales over the past two years. markets. Oxford Economics (No 59), an The average growth rate hasn’t been economic research consultancy, has below 58% since the 2016 Brexit referen- splashed out on improving the technol- dum, though it hovered around 50% in ogy behind its forecasting models. Its the three years running up to it. international sales grew by 65% a year to Some of this growth can be attributed £18.8m in 2018. Firms are also investing to the weak pound, which makes British in software that helps manage growth in Led by chief executive Fred Stratford, travel agency Reed & Mackay helps professionals complete 2m business trips a year. International sales hit £16.4m in 2019 goods and services a bargain for overseas multiple territories, as Nicky Tozer of customers. But it also reflects the strong Oracle NetSuite sets out on page 6. 1 Reed & Mackay 412.15% the option for travellers to share their it alongside prices at the time of booking Helped by such acquisitions, its reputation our private companies enjoy Vegware (No 37), which makes cutlery Corporate travel agency location when travelling to volatile so clients can choose the greenest client base has broadened to include around the world — and their determina- and coffee cups from plant-based materi- When the “Beast from the East” brought destinations, so employers can monitor options. Other services include logistical customers in the retail, media and tion to find new global markets. als, is among the league table companies heavy snow and disruption across their safety. planning, trip budget management, manufacturing sectors. With the Manchester’s Arlington Industries showing leadership in sustainability, Europe in February 2018, Reed & It employs 1,000 staff, who work with travel consulting, event management worldwide corporate travel industry Group (No 19), which makes parts for car alongside Smith Anderson (No 71), which Mackay worked around the clock. The an international network of 4,000 travel and passport and visa applications. estimated to be worth $1.4 trillion, companies, and World of Books (No 131), makes paper bags for burger restaurants. corporate travel specialist shared 4,000 advisers to support clients in the Demand from multinational clients there is plenty of scope for further a West Sussex seller of used books, are The proportion of businesses increasing targeted alerts a day on its mobile app financial, insurance and legal sectors in has seen the London-based firm, led by growth. With its tech-driven approach among the companies expanding in sales through sustainability is likely to and its consultants made more than 40 countries, helping professionals chief executive Fred Stratford, 56, and global footprint, Reed & Mackay America. More league table companies rise rapidly, as Ian Wilson of DHL Express 3,000 calls to customers, reorganising complete two million business trips each expand rapidly since 2015, launching has shown its capacity to adapt to an (59%) see it as a key market than any discusses on page 4. trips because thousands of flights were year. International sales have rocketed offices in financial hubs such as Dubai, ever-evolving business landscape. other country, and it is the most popular The most strongly represented sector grounded. an average of 412% a year, from Frankfurt, New York and Singapore. The firm was founded in 1962 by on the league table is services compa- Reed & Mackay helps companies £626,000 in 2017 to £16.4m in 2019, on With backing from Inflexion, the father-and-son team Bob and David nies, such as Checkout.com (No 39), a arrange travel for their employees via its total sales, generated from commission private equity firm, which invested in Boardman as a travel agency within a FAST TRACK payments provider valued at £1.6bn last online booking portal, mobile app and and fees, of £71.9m. the company in a 2016 deal valuing it at London insurance firm. The founding May. The sector also includes Element 750 travel experts. Its platforms — driven With corporations increasingly more than £150m, it has also grown via family is still involved in the business, (No 54), which uses its 188 laboratories by technology developed in-house — conscious of their environmental impact, acquisitions of travel groups in America, with Bob’s other son Richard, 53, a International Track 200 ranks Britain’s worldwide to test materials used in aero- offer price comparisons on flights and Reed & Mackay also calculates the Australia, France and Germany, and former chief executive, sitting on the mid-market private companies with the space, transport and energy. It recorded hotels, real-time travel alerts, and even carbon footprint of trips, and will display launched a joint venture in Holland. board of directors. fastest-growing overseas sales. the biggest absolute increase in interna- The league table is produced for an 11th tional sales over the past two years, up year by Fast Track, the Oxford firm that £321m to £501m in 2018, after making 2 AIS 319.74% 3 Project One 278.99% 4 Northern Gas & Power 247.57% 5 Chilly’s Bottles 227.85% researches Britain’s top-performing acquisitions in America and Germany. Office interiors consultancy Business consultancy Energy management consultancy Reusable bottles brand private companies and organises More than 50% of the companies are This workplace interiors business kick- BAE Systems, Astra Zeneca and Liberty Fokhrul Islam, 37, set up this energy This London company’s reusable steel invitation-only dinners for their owners majority-owned by entrepreneurs or started its global growth in 2017 when Global are among the clients of this consultancy in 2013, winning its first water bottles, an alternative to single-use and directors to network and meet founders, and 23% are majority-owned American Express asked it to fit out Cheshire-based consulting business, customers from his bedroom. Now plastic water bottles, have proved a hit in its sponsors. by private equity firms. The companies offices in Europe. It has since won clients launched in 1998. It helps large based in Gateshead, it has offices in Paris mainland Europe. Overseas sales — directly employ 124,000 people. such as asset manager BlackRock, and organisations manage complex change and Texas as well as technology hubs in through its multilingual website and For full ranking criteria, see page 2 At the start of 2017, 26% of companies opened bases in Amsterdam and and business transformation processes. Malta and India. The firm works with distributors — reached £12.3m in 2019, told our researchers that the prospect of Frankfurt. The London-based firm aims In 2016, chief executive Terry Holland, businesses to reduce their energy driven by a focus on social media Follow us on LinkedIn Brexit had made a negative impact on to expand into America and India, after 53, led a management buyout from the consumption by finding the best marketing. Co-founders James The Sunday Times Fast Track their business — this had risen to 41% by international sales reached £16.8m last founder. International sales have since contracts with suppliers including Butterfield and Tim Bouscarle, both 31, #IntTrack200 December last year. International Track year. It is led by managing director Gerry soared to £8.1m in 2018, as the company British Gas and Eon, and offering have expanded the range to include 200 companies will be hoping the gov- Graville, 50, who acquired AIS in 2013 has followed clients into markets such consultancy services such as energy-use reusable coffee cups and have recently Awards dinner car partner ernment’s trade negotiations can reverse after setting up the interiors division of as Australia, the Middle East and audits. International sales rose to £11.4m launched Chilly’s in America, Australia, that trend. construction group Willmott Dixon. Europe. in 2018. the Middle East and parts of Asia. The duckers and weavers deliver knockout figures turbulence of Brexit and and health products, via 178 highly adept at using data, the UK, the league table Reed & Mackay (No 1), a The top exporters trade wars, their leaders have localised websites, have digital skills and creativity to includes more than a dozen corporate travel agency are sharp-eyed, learnt to be prepared for grown an average of 38.5% drive rapid overseas growth. agencies offering these skills founded in 1962 that helps anything — indeed, planning annually over two years to END (No 177) is a men’s to clients.