1000 1000 COMPANIES TO INSPIRE 1000 COMPANIES TO INSPIRE 2016 BRITAIN BRITAIN 2016 Our sponsors www.1000companies.com 1000 COMPANIES TO INSPIRE 2016 BRITAIN London Stock Exchange Group Editorial Board Tom Gilbert (Senior Press Officer); Ed Clark (Press Officer); Alexandra Ritterman (Junior Press Officer) Contents Wardour Led by Claire Oldfield (Managing Director) and Ben Barrett (Creative Director) 72 Marcus Stuttard The team included: Lynn Jones (Art Director); Joanna Lewin (Editor) and Wardour editorial; Forewords 5 Xavier Rolet Head of UK Primary Markets and Head Charlotte Tapp (Project Director); CEO, London Stock Exchange Group of AIM, London Stock Exchange Group John Faulkner and Jack Morgan (Production) 10 Ian Stuart 73 Sherry Coutu CBE Co-Founder, Scale-Up Institute Wardour, Drury House, 34–43 Russell Street, UK and European Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC 81 Terry Scuoler London WC2B 5HA, United Kingdom CEO, EEF The Manufacturers’ Organisation +44 (0)20 7010 0999 12 Stephen Welton CEO, Business Growth Fund 90 Tim Hames www.wardour.co.uk 14 Jim Durkin Director General, British Private CEO, Cenkos Equity & Venture Capital Association 16 Allister Heath 102 Jenny Tooth OBE Deputy Editor and Deputy Director of Chief Executive, UK Business Angels Association Pictures: Getty Images, iStock, Gallerystock Content, The Telegraph 17 Justin Fitzpatrick 113 Carolyn Fairbairn All other pictures used by permission Co-founder and COO/CFO at DueDil Director-General of the CBI Cover illustration: Adam Simpson 121 Mike Cherry Research findings Policy Director, Federation of Small Businesses Printed by Graphius on FSC certified material 18 Crunching the numbers 20 1000 companies: UK snapshot Sections 122 Third time’s a charm 22 Creative Industries Why Amplify is going from strength to strength Sponsored features 34 Food & Drink 32 HSBC Profiling the gastro genius of Japan Centre 52 Business Growth Fund 42 Exports 64 Cenkos Shining the spotlight on CDE Global and Company information powered by DueDil, February 2016 Expert commentary Scottish whisky producers Ben Riach An official publication of London Stock Exchange Group 54 Retail 4 The Rt Hon George Osborne MP How Barker and Stonehouse is taking Chancellor of the Exchequer the UK by storm 8 Angela Eagle MP 66 ELITE Shadow First Secretary of State and Highlighting some of the UK’s most Shadow Secretary of State for Business, promising fast-growth companies © London Stock Exchange Group 2016. 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No part of these trademarks, or any other trademark owned by 62 Tim Ward 125 Directory LSEG can be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form without express written consent by the owner of the trademark. CEO, The Quoted Companies Alliance 160 Contacts 2 3 LSEG FOREWORD COMMENTARY THE RT HON GEORGE OSBORNE MP INSIDE THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER ENTERPRISE IS AT THE CENTRE OF STRENGTHENING OUR ECONOMY REPORT economy. Few would have imagined that there would be a record 5.4 million private sector businesses at the start of 2015 – an increase of over 900,000 since the beginning of 2010. Nor would they predict that we would have the highest rate of employment on record. British enterprise is at the front and centre of strengthening our economy. We have held the steadfast belief that –alongside deficit reduction – nurturing entrepreneurs, creating jobs, supporting hard-working families and keeping taxes low would get the UK economy back on track. Our measures to increase access to finance for business and encourage more investment have had a transformative effect on our economy. Take the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) which raises billions of pounds in capital for small businesses to grow and invest. We made shares on AIM exempt from stamp duty and allowed them to be included in ISAs for the first time. elcome to the third edition of London Stock Exchange This had an effect of channelling another £5.3bn into high- WGroup’s 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain: a growth companies. landmark report identifying the UK’s most exciting and We were resolute that the UK needed a globally competitive dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). economy if businesses were to thrive. I cut corporation tax to When we first launched this project in late 2013, we said historic levels in the last Parliament, making it the joint lowest our desire was to shine a light on what we knew to be true: level in the G20, and have announced that we will go further, that these companies are the engine of the UK economy. cutting it to 19% in April 2017 and then again to 18% in 2020. his year’s list of 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain is Their effect too is to create, in the words of economist Ttruly remarkable. The businesses and entrepreneurs in Nicolas Naseem Taleb, author of The Black Swan, an ‘anti- the report are a fantastic illustration of the UK’s pioneering, “ THE ENTREPRENEURS IN THIS fragile’ SME economy: more robust, more flexible and less entrepreneurial spirit and our nation’s capacity to produce prone to boom and bust. world-class innovation. REPORT ILLUSTRATE OUR In this new report, we highlight 1,000 of the fastest- It is my pleasure to congratulate all the companies featured NATION’S CAPACITY TO PRODUCE growing SMEs up and down the country. Our selection and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) for all it does to WORLD-CLASS INNOVATION” “We want to shine a criteria (see p125 for full details) require companies to have support dynamic UK businesses up and down the country, as shown not just growing revenue over the past four years, but they grow and seek to achieve scale. also to have outperformed their sector peers. UK high-growth businesses are leading the charge in rebuilding We have committed £13bn of investment into the Northern light on what we know Our unique methodology, devised by DueDil (itself a our economy. These companies are the backbone of the British Powerhouse to improve infrastructure and transport – key for leading high-growth technology SME), reveals once again a economy. They create high-quality, well paid jobs, innovate and entrepreneurs to do business in this region. The West Midlands to be true: that these drive economic growth. This government fully understands the also received a revolutionary devolution deal last year to make companies are the engine community of UK businesses richer and more varied than we need to support ambitious entrepreneurs and ensure they can the Midlands Britain’s engine for growth.