8 The Sunday Times December 2, 2018

FAST TRACK 100

attracting talented staff. That said, listing is not

right for everyone and other good options exist to secure funding, such as venture capital firms and institutionalinvestors.

For instance, BGF, one of our clients and a fellow

provides management with the freedom to execute a strategy, while only relinquishing a minimum of 25% of their shares. Listing also raises a company’s profile, enhancing its credibility with customers and creditors, as well as

Springfield Properties, negative myths still surround the listing process. While concessions are made on transparency, there are some clear advantages to going public. These include control, as the market’s passive investor base

Michelle Motion, Sandy Adam and Innes Smith, board members at AIM-listed Springfield

In the Scottish town of Forres, at the tip of the country, 12 new affordable homes were recentlyhanded over by Springfield Properties.

The company is workingwith Moray council on its pledge to build 68 houses in the region before the end of March, as it continues to position itself as an affordable housebuilder making a difference to the lives of local people.

The company appeared inthe Fast Track 100 in 2005 and 2007 — and is typical of the housebuilders that have

Housebuilders are laying the groundwork for growthmade it on to the league table over the past 22 years. A significant regional player, it now constructs about770 homes a year and has grown to have more than 500 employees. Its sales stood at £140.7m in theyear to May.

While fast-growing brandssuch as Charlotte Tilbury Beauty (No 21) and Five Guys (No 43) continue to catch the eye of consumers, the UK’s regional housebuilders are less well known but still have a storied history of Fast Track 100 success. This year is no exception, as there are 13 building-related companies on the table, generating combined sales of £465m. This continues a trend from previous years, with 15 construction-related firms on the list both last year and in 2016.

This year’s companies include Eccleston Homes(No 22), which focuses on building traditional houses with modern interiors, mostly in or near towns and cities in the northwest, and the Truro-based modular buildings designer ISO

Spaces (No 10), which createsresidential and commercial buildings by converting old shipping containers.

N+1 Singer knows this sector well, having acted for Springfield Properties and MJ Gleeson, the construction and property group that listed in the 1960s and had sales of £196.7m in the year to June.

We also worked withThe PRS REIT on its initial public offering (IPO), which raised £250m in May 2017, and then assisted it in raising another £250m in February. The fundraising is being used to continue the company’s investment in new sites and in September it acquired a development site in Wigan for the construction of 145 new family rental homes.

Springfield Properties alsohighlights another trend — that firms are opting to stay private longer. This is not a bad thing, as when theydo consider a listing they have more of a track record. Springfield started property development in 1988, but did not float on AIM until October 2017.

N+1 Singer was the nominated adviser and sole broker to the group for its IPO, when it was valued at £87m. Over the past yearits value has increased to £108m, demonstratingthe ability of former Fast Track 100 companies to drive investor returns.

Sandy Adam, chairman ofSpringfield Properties, said: “Being a public company gives us access to another source of finance to continue our rapid growth.

“The initial fundraising enabled further investment in the land and the people we need and in the substantial infrastructure needed at the start of large, long-term developments.”

Springfield approached investors for a further £15m in May this year to help it acquire Dawn Homes — and it was significantly oversubscribed.

“It brought immediate sales growth, geographic expansion and talented people to the group,”said Adam.

Despite the success of companies such as

Fast Track 100 sponsor, provides venture andgrowth capital and supports private companies as they grow and gear up for anAIM listing.

I have been fortunate enough to be involved in setting up two businesses, giving me an insight intothe challenges facing other entrepreneurial companies. The float of our first business gave me experience of that process and the advantagesit provides.

For the moment, N+1 Singer remains a private business, with all my fellow partners holding equity in the company. As business owners we understandthe unpredictable flight path that many firms are navigating.

Ambitious businesses must be properly funded to drive their expansion. This year’s Fast Track 100 companies will all look to accelerate their growth further and knowing how to reach those goals is vital.

Tim Cockroft is founder and chief executive of N+1 Singer

Construction firms have long been a vital component of the Fast Track 100. No wonder public markets like them

TIMCOCKROFTN+1 Singer

which works with more than 1,400 charity shops to buy their unsold or unsuitable stock. ARB collects the mixed goods before wholesaling to exporters who sell to African, Asian and eastern European markets. Managing director Adrian Barker, 61, and operations director James Wiles, 30, founded the business in 2014, raising sales to £8.2m in the year to June. Their plans include establishing a processing and grading centre in order to boost the firm’s export capabilities.

88 Anthesis Group 48.15%Sustainability consultancyThis employee-owned consultancy assists customers — which include Tesco, The North Face and Target — with all aspects of sustainability, from making supply chains more environment friendly to preparing sustainability reports. Chief executive Stuart McLachlan, 51, and the founding management team formed the London-based group in 2013. It has since made acquisitions in Germany, Sweden, North America and the United Arab Emirates, as well as opening offices in China and the Philippines. Sales grewto £13.8m last year, aided by a strengthened presence in the energy sector as a result of acquiring the Bristol energy and carbon management firm Sustain in November 2016.

89 Eakin 48.12%Specialist printerAudi, Ford and Volkswagen are among the key customers of this firm, which has been producing car numberplates at its factory in Craigavon, Co Armagh, since 1987. It also makes branded merchandise — ranging from piggy banks to umbrellas — and embroidered workwear for companies on both sides of the Irish border. Sales rose to £50.9m last year under managing directorNoel Eakin, 68, when it bought JohnR Wald, a US numberplate maker, to establish itself in the Americas. It is looking to set up manufacturing bases in Brazil and China.

90 Vanarama 47.83%Vehicle leasing brokerTelevision advertising and sponsorship of National League football helped this leasing firm generate sales of £61m last year. Its website allows customers to lease vans quickly and recycle their old ones. Andy Alderson, 49, set up the firm in 2007 after spotting a gap in the market for an online leasing platform. In August it positioned a “car vending machine” at London’s Waterloo station to promote the launch of its new car leasing website, motorama.com.

91 Honest Burgers 47.76%Burger restaurant chainIn 2011, friends Tom Barton, 32, and Philip Eeles, 35, were joined by experienced restaurateur Dorian Waite, 51, to turn their pop-up fast-food stand into an upmarket burger chain. In 2015, Active Partners, the backer of Leon and Soho House, invested £7m in the company in return for a 50% stake. It has since established its own butchers — saying it is the first British burger chain to do so — where it produces fresh patties for its 30 restaurants every day. Sales reached £22.3m in the year to January. It recently opened a restaurant in Bristol and sites at Waterloo and Bond Street in central London.

92 Plimsoll Productions 47.61%Television producerThis Bristol firm has worked on more than 50 television and internet series, producing content for broadcasters and streaming platforms including ITV, Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel. Its non-scripted shows have included Life at the Extreme with Davina McCall, Rescue Dog to Super Dog and Earth Live — the last of which was watched in more than 170 countries. Set up in 2013 by Grant Mansfield, 60, and Christine Owen, 56, Plimsoll now has offices in Cardiff and Los Angeles. It announced in July that it would be producing a documentary series called Hostile Planet — hosted by Bear Grylls — for the National Geographic Channel. Sales hit £19.5m in the year to August.

80 Fizz Creations 50.39%Novelty items wholesalerFrom dinosaur mood lights to avocado-shaped stress balls, the novelty gifts offered by this West Sussex firm are stocked by Tesco, Argos, Debenhams and Amazon. Serial entrepreneurs and brothers Dominic, 52, Paul, 49, and Lawrence Boon, 55, founded Fizz in 2011 partly as a way to make use of surplus warehouse space at another of their businesses. Official licensing for Slush Puppie machines and syrups helped boost sales to £14.1m in the year to January, and it has customers across Europe, America and Asia.

81 naughtone 50.12%Furniture designer and manufacturerGoogle, Twitter and AstraZeneca are among the clients of this Yorkshire firm, which was founded in 2005 by Mark Hammond, 38, Kieron Bakewell, 40, and Matt Welsh, 41. Its contemporary furniture can be found in offices, hotels, restaurants and even airports, including Manchester’s terminal 3. The US furniture giant Herman Miller bought a 50% non-controlling stake in June 2016, opening the way for sales in America where it has launched its first international showroom in Chicago. Sales in the year to May hit £23.4m, roughly 70% of which were overseas.

82 Thakeham Group 50.12%Housebuilder and contractorRob Boughton, 45, established thisWest Sussex firm in 2010. It has a land promotion and housebuilding division, Thakeham Homes, and a contracting arm, Thakeham Client. The former focuses on constructing high-quality houses across the southeast and has benefited from government schemes such as Help to Buy. It also has a land bank of about 30,000 plots. Thakeham Client works with external customers, including Lewes district council and the social landlord Clarion Housing Group, on projects such as retirement villages and affordable housing schemes. Group sales climbed to £47.6m last year.

83 James and James 50.07%Ecommerce fulfilment providerCompanies ranging from small independents to high street retailers outsource their stock storage and ecommerce fulfilment to this Northampton firm. Set up in 2010, it operates a 125,000-sq-ft warehouse where about 100 workers pick and pack orders placed online. Most of its clients are small firms that don’t generate enough online orders to justify operating their own warehouses, but chief executive James Hyde, 34, says it also works with larger players that value its specialist knowledge of ecommerce. A partnership with New Zealand Post

helped boost sales to £8.9m last year.It expects future growth to come from America, where it has recently opened a warehouse in Ohio.

84 XL Displays 49.29%Exhibition equipment retailerLooking for a way to pick her working hours and spend time with her newborn daughter, Joanne Bass, 41, decided to become her own boss in 2010, using £3,000 of her savings to set up a website. Now a mother of four, she runs this Peterborough firm that sells exhibition and promotional equipment such as display stands, signs and banners. Turnover hit £5.5m last year thanks to new customers and repeat business from blue-chip clients such as Virgin, Unilever and John Lewis. About 50% of products are made in-house at XL’s 28,000-sq-ft production facility.

85 C2events 49.07%Events agencyWakefield-based C2events organises more than 150 meetings and events a year, mostly for companies in the healthcare sector. Founder Cheryl Clarke, 52, established the firm in 2004 with savings from her freelance work, originally operating from her bedroom office. Its meetings and conferences cater for between 10 and 2,000 delegates, and have taken place in more than 25 countries. Co-director Mark Saxby, 57, was appointed in 2015 and the firm acquired Five Hats International, another healthcare events agency, in 2017, which helped boost total sales to £6.9m last year. Future plans include partnerships in Europe and America.

86 Third Bridge 48.56%Research services providerFounded in 2007 by chief executive Emmanuel Tahar, 43, and Rodolphede Hemptinne, 46, Third Bridge researches markets and company performance for more than 400 institutional investors. Its projects have included advising a US private equity firm considering the acquisition of a British educational publisher and analysing the fallout from the VW emissions scandal. Last July the European private equity firm IK Investment Partners acquired a minority stake. Sales in 2017 hit £71.5m, roughly 75% of which were generated overseas. In May the London-based firm opened a Los Angeles office, adding to existing locations in Mumbai, Beijing, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

87 ARB Recycling 48.47%Charity sector recyclerMore than 250 tons of clothes, shoes, books and bric-a-brac are collected by this Kent-based recycler every week,

Marisa Hordern, 39, started her jewellery company 10 years ago. Her products have been worn by the Duchess of Sussex

Life at the Extreme with Davina McCall was made by Plimsoll Productions (No 92)

THE 10 FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES FOUNDED OR LED BY WOMENRank Company Activity Headquarters

locationAnnual sales rise over3 years

Latest sales £m

Founded

4 Missoma Online jewellery brand West London 148.26% 6.0 2008Founder Marisa Hordern, 39, has pledged to plant a tree for every sale made on Black Friday

5 Mission Mars Bar and restaurant operator Manchester 147.37% 27.7 2014Before forming Mission Mars, co-founder Adelaide Winter, 41, ran bars with her business partner Joel Wilkinson, 51

6 Warner Edwards Gin distiller Northamptonshire 142.58% 6.1 2012For two years, Tina Warner-Keogh, 35, kept her private equity job so she and husband Tom Warner, 40, would stay afloat

13 Cult Beauty Online beauty retailer Central London 125.88% 66.7 2008Two-thirds of the 200 brands stocked by co-founders Alexia Inge, 41, and Jessica DeLuca, 43, were set up by women

17 Mowgli Street Food Indian restaurant chain Liverpool 106.05% 8.1 2013Instead of depending on Indian chefs, founder Nisha Katona, 47, hires ‘curry virgins’ and trains them personally

21 Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Beauty products retailer West London 102.11% 100.7 2011Founder and celebrity make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, 45, appointed Demetra Pinsent, 44, chief executive in 2012

32 Wed2b Wedding dress retailer Milton Keynes 81.68% 18.4 2009 Jenny Cassidy, 41, started this fast-fashion bridalwear business with her husband Todd, 45, after they married

39 Flat Iron Steak restaurant chain Central London 75.05% 11.7 2012After seven years as managing director of the Mexican chain Wahaca, Jo Fleet, 53, took on the role at Flat Iron last year

42 Tropic Skincare Beauty products manufacturer Croydon 72.51% 22.5 2011Tropic Skincare was set up by Susie Ma, 30, when she was a teenager trying to help her mother pay the bills

47 Grenade Sports nutrition brand Solihull 70.55% 33.8 2009After a decade working in education, Juliet Barratt, 44, started Grenade with husband Alan, 42. They met in the gym

SOHAN MANGAL