What we can learn from the UK’s 10 fastest retailers
In popular imagination, the fastest way to grow a business is with an app or algorithm. Yet it is retail, not tech, that dominates the definitive list of the UK’s 100 fastest growing companies.
Bambino Mio: Environmental concerns over single-use disposable nappies means reusable alternatives are becoming mainstream
Bambino Mio aims to make reusable nappies mainstream and cut the thousands of single-use plastic nappies sent to landfill
Activate Group: A hobby that very quickly grew and grew
Mark Wilcox lasted just two weeks in retirement before he got the idea for Activate, a technology-led vehicle insurance and accident management company that now employs 750 and has annual sales of almost £200m.
Cycle Pharma: Developing treatments to suit everyday life
Unlike many other pharma companies that focus their efforts on launching new treatments, Cycle’s aim is to improve drugs that already exist.
Bboxx: Ending energy poverty and creating a fairer and cleaner future for everyone
Recent years have seen a rise in purpose-led businesses, with missions going beyond making a profit. One of these businesses is Bboxx, a solar energy firm dedicated to ending energy poverty.
Storal Learning: Striving for improvement in early years education
Founded in 2016, Storal Learning is a community of day nurseries born from a belief in the power of early years education. The company is growing steadily through acquisition: with five new sites in the last 12 months, it has increased in capacity for children and staff by almost a third.
Paysend: Boosting financial inclusion is a key mission
“I’m always making mistakes. But it’s about what you learn from those mistakes and how you take a business forward that matters,” says Ronnie Miller, a serial tech entrepreneur who is currently on his sixth business, Paysend.
Do you need a degree to become a high-growth CEO?
There’s a clear correlation between education and career success, which is why the vast majority of FTSE CEOs have a degree. The proportion among GX leaders is notably less, with over three in ten attending the famed university of life.
Why Growth Index CEOs are more diverse than FTSE CEOs
Sex discrimination has been banned in the workplace since at least 1975, so it’s a matter of great disappointment that today barely 5% of the UK’s public companies are run by women.
Sosandar: We can be one of the UK’s biggest women’s fashion brands
Ali Hall and Julie Lavington ran a magazine before launching online fashion brand Sosandar. Thanks to their flair for marketing and focus on careful planning in the face of rapid change, the AIM-listed business is now among the UK’s fastest growing. In this article, they explain why they believe it has only scratched the surface.
