2011 - Fast Track 100 League Table

What is the Fast Track 100 – 2011?
The Fast Track 100 league table ranked Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales in 2011 over their latest three years. To find out more about the research and to view all the league tables from 1997 to 2023 click here.

Sunday Times Fast Track 100 - Full 2011 Results

Rank	Company	Activity	Location	Year end	Annual sales rise over 3 years	Latest sales £000s	Staff	Comment
1	Clinigen Group	Pharmaceutical services provider	Burton on Trent	Jun 11	242.05%	35,024	48	Added £23m in sales this year through acquisitions
2	Secured Mail	Bulk mail service provider	Warrington	Jul 10	232.76%	32,556	61	Collects 400m letters nationwide each year
3	Diet Chef	Diet meal retailer	Edinburgh	Jul 11	228.69%	11,852	45	Founder’s first job was as personal chef to the Mountbatten family [* Latest sales]
4	Mobile Account Solutions	Phone and tablet provider	Hertfordshire	Mar 11	194.45%	27,331	10	Supplies mobile phones to Childline and Amnesty International
5	TopCashback	Cashback website operator	Staffordshire	Jan 11	189.27%	15,512	17	Claims that the average customer receives £50 cashback per year
6	Medstrom	NHS product supplier	Derbyshire	Feb 11	166.72%	5,543	75	Supplies high-tech cots that can x-ray and weigh critically ill children [* Latest sales]
7	Côte Restaurants	Restaurant operator	Central London	Jul 11	166.35%	35,583	894	Backed by Richard Caring and is run by the former owners of the Strada restaurant chain
8	Veetee Foods	Packaged food manufacturer	Kent	Dec 10	163.83%	11,145	38	Sells 25m trays of premium ready-cooked rice each year
9	Notonthehighstreet.com	Online retail marketplace	Richmond	Dec 10	154.65%	15,080	45	Estimates that it has received £50m in free PR from free press coverage [* Latest sales]
10	Lois Jewellery	Jewellery wholesaler & bullion dealer	Birmingham	Mar 10	150.13%	263,009	12	Melts down about 150kg of gold each day
11	AES International	Financial services provider	West London	Apr 11	144.89%	5,471	19	Started out providing financial advice for expats in hazardous regions and professions
12	Austin Fraser	Recruitment consultancy	Reading	Feb 11	142.12%	7,101	28	Its first office was a garage owned by the father of one of the founders [* Latest sales]
13	Be Wiser Insurance	Insurance broker	Andover	May 11	139.07%	12,148	141	Checks more than 30 insurance companies when searching for quotes for customers
14	Electricity Network Solutions	Electricity infrastructure servicer	Northamptonshire	Sep 10	136.05%	9,735	115	Refurbished 900km of overhead electricity lines last year [† Latest sales]
15	Staysure.co.uk	Over-fifties insurance provider	Northampton	Dec 10	134.01%	14,583	62	Operates an expatriate office in Spain [* Latest sales]
16	Pho	Vietnamese restaurant chain	Central London	Feb 11	132.59%	5,374	130	Up to 2,000 people are served freshly cooked dishes at its Westfield site each day [* Latest sales]
17	Actegy Health	Home healthcare devices	Ascot	Jun 11	130.44%	22,911	27	Has recently opened a new office in Montreal [* Latest sales]
18	sofa.com	Online sofa retailer	Southwest London	Feb 10	128.82%	6,852	37	Paid $200,000 for its internet domain name
19	Mobile Phone Xchange	Mobile phone recycler	Northwest London	Dec 10	128.01%	10,235	18	Claims to pay on average £57 to customers for their old mobile phones [* Latest sales]
20	Baird & Co	Bullion merchant	East London	Dec 10	115.27%	417,167	53	Makes 50,000 wedding rings a year
21	First Utility	Energy supplier	Warwick	Dec 10	114.53%	60,537	145	Its smart meters send out readings of electricity usage every 30 minutes
22	Liquid Friday	Payroll services provider	Portsmouth	Jul 11	112.72%	31,405	1,450	Provides financial services to contractors and temporary workers [* Latest sales]
23	La Fosse Associates	Technology recruitment consultancy	Central London	Sep 11	109.08%	11,294	38	Supports 250 children in a Malawi orphanage [* Latest sales]
24	feelunique.com	Online beauty products retailer	Jersey	Mar 11	105.50%	16,056	118	Gives its VIP club customers 10% off their favourite brand for life [* Latest sales]
25	Ella’s Kitchen	Baby food producer	Henley	Jun 11	99.89%	30,289	35	Claims that one of its products is eaten somewhere every second [* Latest sales]
26	Your Golf Travel.com	Golf travel retailer	Central London	Dec 10	99.28%	26,405	59	Has set up Golf for Heroes, which allows injured soldiers to play golf for free
27	Ashbury Construction Services	Building contractor	Ipswich	Mar 11	99.05%	6,178	11	Founder started in the building trade as a bricklayer at the age of 16 [* Latest sales]
28	Global Personals	Online dating service provider	Windsor	Aug 10	98.41%	13,693	77	Says it has created more than 6,000 dating websites for 1,400 companies
29	BullionVault.com	Gold dealer	West London	Oct 10	94.51%	304,248	17	Founded when Gordon Brown, as chancellor, sold off half of Britain’s gold reserve
30	Surfdome.com	Online lifestyle retailer	Wembley	Dec 10	92.11%	7,261	50	Founder originally planned to open an indoor surf centre
31	Fever-Tree	Mixer drinks manufacturer	Southwest London	Dec 10	91.13%	6,664	11	Says it uses the highest quality quinine sourced from Congolese ‘fever trees’
32	DatacenterDynamics	Publisher & conference producer	Central London	Dec 10	90.12%	10,331	70	2,500 delegates attended the company’s annual London conference this year [* Latest sales]
33	Pathology Group	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Sep 11	89.17%	35,964	52	Donates funds to hospitals in the Czech Republic to buy equipment [* Latest sales]
34	Joseph Joseph	Household goods manufacturer	Central London	May 11	88.06%	22,475	37	Its colourful kitchenware has been a recent hit with customers in Mexico [* Latest sales]
35	Fideliti	Childcare voucher administrator	Warrington	Mar 11	86.76%	41,298	19	Customers for its vouchers include employees of Virgin Trains and Heinz
36	Shortlist Media	Magazine / digital publisher	Central London	Aug 11	86.28%	15,263	78	Co-founded by the former editor of FHM magazine [* Latest sales]
37	GRITIT	Winter gritting specialist	Uxbridge	Sep 10	82.98%	5,176	100	Founders met on a gritting job and thought they could do better [* Latest sales]
38	RED5	Gift and gadget retailer	Hull	Mar 10	81.80%	10,824	205	Products include a rubber duck speaker for listening to music in the bath
39	Make It Cheaper	Business cost saving service	Central London	Mar 10	78.77%	5,024	62	This price comparison service claims to broker 90,000 contracts a year [* Latest sales]
40	MPM products	Pet food producer	Cheshire	Dec 10	78.15%	8,702	20	Premium cat food varieties include tuna-and-ostrich
41	Lifetime	Training provider	Bristol	Mar 11	77.75%	23,639	239	Has extended its fitness training services to retailing, hospitality and care provision
42	State Oil	Fuel wholesaler	Weybridge	Feb 11	77.38%	419,681	92	Blends imported diesel with up to 50% biofuel at its facility on the Thames
43	Miroma	Media barter company	Central London	Jun 11	76.94%	50,555	15	Enables clients to trade inventory for advertising space [* Latest sales]
44	Mayday Healthcare	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Sep 10	72.65%	56,768	102	Makes its fourth consecutive appearance in the Fast Track 100
45	APS Salads	Tomato supplier	Cheshire	Dec 10	72.19%	34,979	84	Sells 300m tomatoes each year to British supermarkets
46	Liquid Personnel	Recruitment consultancy	Manchester	Mar 11	70.79%	12,442	24	Co-founder sold his car to raise the money to start the business
47	Amber Taverns	Pub operator	Preston	Jan 11	70.49%	18,494	15	Often spends more on refurbishing a pub than on the purchase price
48	Clinical Professionals	Recruitment consultancy	Reading	Apr 11	69.92%	5,471	62	Makes placements in 22 countries [* Latest sales]
49	Markit	Financial information services	City of London	Dec 10	69.86%	432,524	1,736	Recently launched an iPad app to help its clients monitor financial data on the move
50	Low Cost Travel Group	Travel operator	West Sussex	Oct 10	69.79%	27,054	145	Claims to have become the exclusive holiday supplier to easyJet and Lastminute.com
51	Oliver James Associates	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Dec 10	68.65%	17,592	50	Founded by childhood friends James Wase-Rogers, Oliver Castle and Nick Godson
52	Patisserie Valerie	Patisserie and cafe operator	Birmingham	Sep 10	67.79%	33,424	1,027	In the past 18 months the company has created more than 500 jobs
53	SDK Jewellers	Online watch retailer	Reading	Feb 11	67.66%	8,630	30	Operates Watchshop.com, which claims to stock 9,000 different watches [* Latest sales]
54	International Applications	Industrial & consumer goods distributor	Oxfordshire	Mar 11	66.94%	16,433	22	Exports goods across Europe, Africa and the Middle East
55	Climate Energy	Energy efficiency consultancy	Essex	Jul 10	66.94%	30,880	63	Began offering energy advice on behalf of local authorities in Essex [† Latest sales]
56	Badger Office Supplies	Office products supplier	Lancashire	May 11	66.55%	9,683	51	Has recently invested £3m in a new 80,000 sq ft industrial unit
57	OneE Tax	Tax planning specialist	Bolton	Dec 10	66.24%	17,536	35	Its last tax solution cost £1m to create, most of which was spent on lawyers’ fees [† Latest sales]
58	Chain Reaction Cycles	Online bike retailer	County Antrim	Dec 10	66.01%	109,420	365	Sponsored the International Triathlon Union World Championship Series in 2011
59	GBE	Building services provider	Kent	Sep 10	64.48%	13,331	16	Installed mechanical pipes 90cm in diameter for the Olympic village
60	Euro Communications Distribution	Telecoms reseller	Wolverhampton	Mar 11	63.58%	8,823	40	Recycles 5,000 mobile phones a week [* Latest sales]
61	Nexus Vehicle Rental	Vehicle rental broker	Leeds	Sep 10	62.84%	33,504	73	Sourced refuse trucks for use in an episode of the BBC’s The Apprentice
62	Cartridge Save	Computer consumables reseller	Stockport	Dec 10	61.65%	8,221	31	Uses techniques designed for testing fighter jets to sell printer cartridges online [* Latest sales]
63	Jack Wills	Fashion retailer	Northwest London	Jan 11	61.14%	92,230	1,870	Company was named after a grandfather of one of the co-founders
64	Grand Union	Venue and bar operator	Central London	Mar 11	61.00%	7,495	228	Its Wandsworth branch has a 48-foot bar surrounding an oak tree [* Latest sales]
65	Sprue Aegis	Safety products manufacturer	Coventry	Dec 10	60.22%	29,873	72	Has developed a carbon monoxide sensor the size of a pound coin
66	Timothy James Consulting	Recruitment consultancy	Bristol	Oct 10	60.08%	16,823	70	Helps recruit finance directors for public and private companies
67	Mammoth Screen	Television programme producer	Central London	Oct 10	59.91%	8,228	10	Makers of the Inspector Morse prequel, Endeavour
68	TXO Systems	Telecoms infrastructure reseller	Windsor	Jun 11	59.79%	8,748	32	Received advice from telecoms billionaire Sir Terry Matthews on growing the business [* Latest sales]
69	Genuine Solutions	Mobile accessories distributor	Surrey	Jan 11	57.82%	18,030	81	Won the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2011 [* Latest sales]
70	Buymobilephones.net	Online phone retailer	Derbyshire	Mar 10	57.69%	30,962	75	Now offers cash for old phones as part of its new recycling scheme
71	Waterfall Services	Contract caterer	Cheshire	Mar 11	57.52%	43,261	2,231	Provides contract catering for the YMCA
72	Intuition IT Solutions	IT recruitment consultancy	West London	Apr 11	57.47%	6,384	16	Has recently celebrated turning over £1m in a month for the first time [* Latest sales]
73	Age Partnership	Equity release adviser	Leeds	Dec 10	57.11%	5,604	75	Set up by former directors of Ultralase, the laser eye-surgery business
74	Thomas Franks	Contract caterer	Oxfordshire	Sep 10	56.29%	7,457	275	Uses locally sourced ingredients for food freshly produced in each restaurant [* Latest sales]
75	Lorclon	Civil engineer	West London	Mar 11	56.09%	6,996	130	Sales have been boosted by the London Olympics and the Docklands railway extension [* Latest sales]
76	Senergy Holdings	Energy consultancy	Aberdeen	May 10	55.48%	89,716	450	Has offices in Norway, the Middle East, Australia, North America and southeast Asia [* Latest sales]
77	Whitehall Resources	Recruitment consultancy	Colchester	May 11	55.46%	14,462	21	A quarter of turnover is generated through placements overseas [* Latest sales]
78	Future Home Care	Home care provider	Birmingham	Mar 11	54.92%	15,264	707	Provides home support enabling people with special needs to lead independent lives [* Latest sales]
79	Quercus Publishing	Publisher	Central London	Dec 10	54.45%	31,784	41	Biggest seller is Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy
80	GO Outdoors	Outdoor equipment retailer	Sheffield	Jan 11	53.86%	115,238	651	3i acquired a minority stake in a £28m deal earlier this year
81	World First	International payments provider	Central London	Jan 11	53.86%	11,996	97	Claims to have transferred a client’s funds to Germany in less than seven minutes
82	Joules	Clothing retailer	Leicestershire	May 10	53.53%	51,167	465	Tom Joule bought into his father’s company after selling wellies at a country show
83	East Midlands Pharma	Pharmaceutical supplies distributor	Leicestershire	Feb 11	53.19%	6,496	35	Founded by a biochemist and an aerospace engineer
84	Kennedy Pearce Consulting	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Dec 10	53.08%	5,537	32	Makes placements at all levels across the accountancy and finance sectors [*† Latest sales]
85	Wiggle	Online sports goods retailer	Portsmouth	Jan 11	53.01%	86,787	131	Company is chaired by cycling enthusiast and former Asda boss Andy Bond
86	Texel Finance	Insurance broker	Central London	Dec 10	52.98%	6,174	14	Has benefited from mounting worries about the financial stability of some countries
87	Next Ventures	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Dec 10	52.50%	14,211	39	Makes its third consecutive appearance in the Fast Track 100
88	Liv-ex	Fine wine exchange	Southwest London	Dec 10	52.24%	52,564	21	Has launched universal product codes for wine
89	Specialty Powders	Food manufacturer	North Yorkshire	Dec 10	52.17%	10,834	44	Recently diversified into sports protein drinks by acquiring a Dutch company
90	Goodman Associates	Media and advertising agency	Central London	Dec 10	51.78%	12,105	10	Places about 30,000 advertisements each year
91	Cath Kidston	Lifestyle retailer	West London	Mar 11	51.75%	67,264	518	Former Claire’s boss Kenny Wilson recently joined the company as chief executive [*† Latest sales]
92	TeacherActive	Recruitment consultancy	Birmingham	Dec 10	51.18%	6,235	22	Is opening three offices in the north of England to target that area in the next few years
93	Transglobal Fuels	Wholesale fuel supplier	West Yorkshire	Mar 11	51.13%	30,205	11	Sells 50m litres of fuel each year [* Latest sales]
94	Oak Furniture Land	Furniture retailer	Swindon	Sep 10	51.08%	25,913	113	The average customer spend in its shops is double the average online spend
95	MenKind	Men's gifts retailer	Surrey	Mar 11	50.88%	18,187	220	Sponsors men’s cancer charity Everyman [* Latest sales]
96	Marlin Financial Group	Debt purchaser	West Sussex	Dec 10	50.83%	17,872	100	Bought £60m of sub-prime debt this year, triple last year’s figure [* Latest sales]
97	Thomson Keene Associates	Recruitment consultancy	Central London	Mar 11	50.66%	7,620	28	Company started in the spare bedroom of its founder [* Latest sales]
98	Ship Shape Resources	Construction services provider	Central London	May 10	50.63%	19,822	35	Claims to have spent more than £1m on the technology behind its payroll services
99	UK Flooring Direct	Online flooring retailer	Warwickshire	Mar 11	50.14%	8,999	27	Sells sustainably sourced wood floors and eco-friendly bamboo and cork flooring [* Latest sales]
100	Calcot Health & Leisure	Hotel and spa operator	Gloucestershire	Dec 10	49.64%	10,812	345	Rooms at its country house hotels start from £250 a night

* Supplied by Company † Annualised figure

Data Source: www.fasttrack.co.uk

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