WELCOME
SUMMER 15
LET’S CELEBRATE OUR BUSINESS SUCCESSES BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes celebrates the profits performance of some of Yorkshire’s top companies In association with
Yorkshire’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion
BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15
Covering a 6,000 square-mile patch like Yorkshire offers plenty of opportunities to assess the state of the region’s leading businesses. Interview after interview, meeting after meeting, I hear success stories that are inspiring and entrepreneurial. Sometimes the most remarkable thing is that some of these companies aren’t widely known outside their own sectors. People are driving past signs and factories every day without realising the hard work that goes on inside. So we will always need stats to back things up and signal the best performers. Just as the race for the Premiership is a seasonlong affair that can come down to the last goal on the last day, so the race to be among the most profitable companies in Yorkshire is one that builds through the financial year. Each pound that can be squeezed from a deal is matched by a new piece of equipment that enables a bid for the next contract, or a bigger factory that increases production capacity. Everything builds to the final profits figure to find out who has the biggest cheer on results day. One of the most respected barometers of Yorkshire’s success is The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100, sponsored by Lloyds Bank, which has been ranking performance across the country for 16 years. Here, we highlight the top ten Yorkshire
companies from the latest 100 and show their profit growth and staffing levels. It has been a good year, with four more of the region’s top firms making it into the list compared to last year. Terry Jones, partner and head of Yorkshire at BDO, the title sponsor of the league table, said our best bosses have shown great focus and intelligence in how they have run their companies: “Medium-sized businesses in Yorkshire and across the UK are thriving. Our newly-named ‘Brittelstand’ has outgrown the German ‘Mittelstand’ with mid-market businesses across all sectors seizing the opportunities a growing economy presents. Yorkshire’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion.” For BQ, our magazines and website tell the story of Yorkshire’s unstoppable rise and how it starts with the entrepreneur. Every company in The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 started as a single idea, a market that was identified, a product or service that was developed and a reputation built on long hours, confidence and a high level of skill. It’s part of BQ’s job to help this progress by highlighting the great ideas and drive across the region and bring together aspiration and success to add even more firms to the top 100 in the country. n
PROFIT CHAMPIONS
SUMMER 15
AT A GLANCE
THE SUNDAY TIMES BDO PROFIT TRACK 100 2015
Rank [2014 rank]
Annual profit growth over 3yrs
Latest profits, £m*
Staff
Year end
Barnsley South Yorkshire
8
111%
6.3
60
Sep 13
Has 7,000 bottle banks across Britain
Abbey Forged Products. Steel products forger
Sheffield South Yorkshire
15
91%
17.2
245
Oct 13
Has installed new forging hammers and heat-treatment furnaces
Acorn Stairlifts Stairlift manufacturer
Steeton West Yorkshire
37
68%
16.7
973
Sep 13
An Acorn Stairlift is installed somewhere in the world every nine minutes
Fine Industries Custom chemical manufacturer
Middlesbrough North Yorkshire
40
67%
6.9
275
Sep 13
Private equity firm NorthEdge Capital backed a £53m management buyout in 2013
Peter Duffy Civil engineering and utility services
Wakefield West Yorkshire
46
63%
4.6
484
May 14
Maintains sewage networks for Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water and Welsh Water
Strata Homes Housebuilder and developer
Doncaster South Yorkshire
51
59%
9.4
115
Dec 13
The government’s help-to-buy scheme has helped to kick-start growth
Principal Hayley Hotel operator
Harrogate North Yorkshire
59
54%
27.5
3,039
Dec 13
Its hotel portfolio includes Hotel Russell in London and The George in Edinburgh
GatenbySanderson Executive recruiter
Leeds West Yorkshire
73
49%
3.3
65
Dec 13
Says it places 40% of all permanent and interim executives into central government
Callcredit Information Group. Consumer data analyst
Leeds West Yorkshire
78
48%
26.1
1,044
Dec 13
Private equity firm GTCR paid a reported £480m to acquire the group last year
Victoria Plumb Online bath equipment retailer
Hessle East Yorkshire
81
47%
12.0
100
Feb 14
Private equity firm TPG Capital backed a £200m buyout in April last year
Company & Activity
HQ Location
Glass Recycling UK Glass recycler
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Comment
BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15
PROFILE
SUMMER 15
Profiles of ten of the region’s fastest growing profit makers over the last three years, using information from The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 Callcredit Information Group
Principal Hayley Based in Harrogate, Principal Hayley is a collection of landmark city centre hotels and dedicated conference and training venues across the UK and Europe. From a small group of six hotels, they have grown to 23, with approximately 4,000 bedrooms, over 500 meeting rooms and the ability to host over 26,000 delegates per day. The company operates hotels around the country, including The Met at Leeds, Kenwood Hall at Sheffield and the Royal York Hotel and its highly-experienced training team covers 22 unique UK and European destinations including London, Cardiff and Edinburgh. In 2013 Starwood Capital Group, a leading private investment firm with extensive experience in the hospitality sector, having invested in 1,100 hotels in 39 countries, became the majority shareholder of PH Hotels as a platform for growth.
Fine Industries The Seal Sands-based chemicals manufacturer is a privately owned UK-based holding company, which comprises four subsidiary companies: Fine Organics, Fine Contract Research, Fine Environmental Services and Fine Facilities Management. The firm, which counts blue chip firms across the world as its clients, exporting to Switzerland, Germany, USA, Brazil and Ireland, was originally founded in Peterlee in 1977 but
expanded into Teesside in 1984. It has been manufacturing Fine Chemicals in the North East of England for over 30 years, with a Management Buy-Out completed in 2008, led by Keith Hanson, which brought the company back from multinational into private ownership. The new business has the advantage of over 100 years of experience shared by fellow directors, Steve Catchpole (Operations), Craig Morgan (Technical) and Kevin Russon (Finance).
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Peter Duffy Peter Duffy Ltd is a privately-owned civil engineering, utility and construction company based in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Formed in Leeds in 1972 and growing in to a multi-disciplined organisation the company has a large plant and vehicle fleet, together with a directly employed workforce. Living up to its own targets of Respect, Accountability, Collaboration, Quality, its processes and procedures are accredited to recognised safety, quality and environmental standards which are externally audited, and it operates a full Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and an ongoing training programme for all employees.
Contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144 lloydsbank.com/manufacturing
IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR
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Artworker’s BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15 Name Andy Stallard
Leeds-based Callcredit manages consumer data for businesses across every sector, from financial services, retail and utilities to public sector, telecoms, insurance and many more. The group’s customers include many of the UK’s leading companies, including all of the clearing banks, several major international lenders, media communications businesses, and petroleum, automotive, power and retail organisations. The company employs approximately 1,000 professionals in Leeds, Kent, Bath, London, Swindon and Warrington and also has offices in Japan, China, Dubai and Lithuania and agents working across international markets. It unlocks value for businesses and consumers by transforming data into intelligence and insight, enabling transactions across multiple channels and markets.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Backing the northern manufacturing revival Lloyds Bank is proud to have been a main sponsor of Profit Track 100 for 13 years – a long-standing relationship that reflects our commitment to helping Britain’s promising businesses prosper. We were delighted to see a number of dynamic businesses from the North of England make their first appearance on this year’s list, which ranks private companies with the fastest growing profits. Leeds-based consumer data analyst CallCredit Information Group is one of seven companies based in Yorkshire making their debut appearance on Profit Track 100. Acquired last year by private equity firm GTCR, CallCredit shows how a business focused on growth can succeed. We were proud to support their ambitions as part of our commitment to backing economic recovery and growth across the North of England. FINANCING GROWTH IN MANUFACTURING The manufacturing sector is traditionally the heart of our region’s economy, and the sector features heavily in this year’s Profit Track 100. For those manufacturing businesses with growth ambitions, accessing finance can often prove a major hurdle yet is often vital in responding to rapidly changing market demands. At Lloyds Bank, we provide our manufacturing clients with clear and transparent access to finance, helping support their investment in people, facilities and growth strategies. Our commitment to bolstering the UK manufacturing sector has seen us deliver more than £2bn of new lending to manufacturers during 2013-14, and we have pledged an additional £1bn of new lending each year until 2017.* Our manufacturing clients here in Yorkshire can testify to our commitment. Grimsby-based marine rope maker Tyson’s Ships Riggers demonstrates how a traditional manufacturer has used finance from Lloyds Bank to enter new markets and keep pace with changing demand. Established in 1982, the family-run company
PROFIT CHAMPIONS
originally supplied ropes for the local fishing fleet, but has expanded its product range to include heavy duty cables for oil and gas vessels and marine contractors. With a five-figure loan from Lloyds Bank, Tyson’s was able to purchase a new wire rope press capable of handling the large diameter cabling needed for this expanded market. UNLOCKING WORKING CAPITAL Working capital is the lifeblood of any business, and having significant amounts of working capital locked-up in assets can hamper their ability to respond quickly to new opportunities. We work with clients to help them unlock this value, increasing the efficiency of their working capital management to support growth ambitions. We have a range of different products to support this focus on efficiency, including Invoice Finance which helps manage working capital for those businesses with large debtor books or seasonal swings. We can also provide Supplier Finance, enabling businesses to obtain early payment of invoices by leveraging the buyer’s credit rating, and Fixed Asset Finance to turn capital tied up in property or plant and machinery into cash. It can be a cost-effective alternative to increase the working capital of a business without slowing growth. INTEGRATED FUNDING SOLUTIONS Gateshead-based Express Engineering is a manufacturer realising its strategic growth ambitions by using an integrated solution from Lloyds Bank. The North East-based supplier of precision-machined components to the oil and gas sector had recently completed the first phase of a growth plan, and in 2013 presented a more ambitious second phase of the growth plans for its UK and Brazil-based businesses. We brought together a number of specialist Lloyds Bank teams – including Asset Finance, Oil & Gas Acquisition Finance, private equity specialist LDC,
Commercial Finance and Credit – to design a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for Express Engineering. This required a rapid response and flexible approach to financing the acquisition of a complementary business, Burdon Engineering Ltd. Another North East success story is Crabtree of Gateshead, an ambitious mid-market manufacturer which produces large metal decorating and coating machinery and exports to more than 90 countries. We provided finance to allow Crabtree to purchase its premises, as well as a new funding package and trade finance facility to help them pursue expansion plans in key markets, particularly the Far East. At the heart of our support for manufacturers is our team of Relationship Managers, based here in the North of England. They are trained to understand the specific banking needs of manufacturing businesses, and can assist with cash flow, growth finance, improved efficiency and help to penetrate new markets. Our regionally-based team reflects our commitment to providing customers with the right banking solutions to achieve their full potential. With that level of support, we’d be delighted to see even more businesses and manufacturers from the North of England break into Profit Track 100 next year. n All lending is subject to status.
Lloyds Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under Registration Number 119278. We subscribe to The Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk
The Lloyds Banking Group includes companies using brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland and their associated companies. More information on the Lloyds Banking Group can be found at www.lloydsbankinggroup.com *Lloyds Banking Group Helping Britain Prosper Plan
BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15
PROFILE
SUMMER 15
Glass Recycling UK The UK’s largest independent glass recycling company, Glass Recycling UK Ltd collects thousands of tonnes of glass bottles and jars every week and processes them into glass cullet, which means it is crushed and ready to be melted. For more than three decades it has provided a service to local authorities and other responsible organisations through the siting of over 7,000 bottle bins and more recently, specially-built bottle banks that are collected by a fleet of custombuilt trucks. The company employs more than 70 people in the main plant at Barnsley, which can process 250,000 bottles per hour, as well as at depots throughout the UK.
Victoria Plumb This family business, established in 1999, has progressed to be the UK’s No 1 online bathroom retailer, with no expensive showrooms or salespeople. Based at new headquarters in Hessle in the East Riding of Yorkshire, they deal directly with suppliers to keep prices competitive on bathroom suites, shower enclosures, baths, taps and furniture. It remains a family-owned business as part of the Hull-based Walker Group, with consistent year on year growth, filling warehouse sites in Hull and Bridlington. Since 2012 it has grown from under 50 to over 150 employees.
Strata Homes
Acorn Stairlifts
Strata is an established home builder with 16 developments across Yorkshire and the Midlands and head offices in Lakeside, Doncaster. Chief Executive Andrew Weaver is the fourth generation of the family to run the business alongside his father, Chairman Irving Weaver. The company, which specialises in first-time and second-time buyers, hosts regular events at its developments where mortgage advisors are on hand to talk about the buying and selling options available, and operates an Early Bird scheme where potential buyers can reserve their plot and have first option on buying the home when it is built.
Acorn was formed in 1992, when it was buying, reconditioning and reselling stairlifts from other manufacturers. In a short space of time, demand outstripped supply and it took the step of developing and designing its own stairlifts. It is an international, family owned company with over 1,200 employees worldwide. Its UK head office, factory and distribution centre is located in Steeton, Yorkshire. It also has a factory in Scotland and a major presence in the United States, with sales and distribution centres in Florida, New Jersey, and California. You will also find Acorn offices in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and South Africa.
From its base in Sheffield, Abbey Forged Products has become the UK’s leading forgemaster in the oil & gas industry
GatenbySanderson
Abbey Forged Products
With bases in Leeds, London and Birmingham, GatenbySanderson is a provider of resourcing solutions, including executive search, interim leadership and assessment solutions. It has built its experience on work across public services and is market leaders in this field, particularly working within complex, highly visible and regulated markets that frequently undergo change. Launched in 2002, in many of its sectors, it works with up to 50% of the organisations operating within the market, with levels of repeat business over 70%. Its expertise spans central government & NDPB, local government, health, education, not for profit, regulation, children’s services, adult services, regeneration, environment and housing.
From its base in Sheffield, Abbey Forged Products has become the UK’s leading forgemaster in the oil & gas industry. With over 30 years of experience in forging, Abbey are specialists in creating bespoke products using open die and ring rolling methods. It was founded in 1982 under the name ‘Abbey Stainless’, specialising in the supply of stainless bar and forgings through a sub contract network, working to short lead times. In 2004 the company acquired a local forgemaster, which had a small open die forge which included a heat treatment and machining facility. This gave the company the independence it needed for its ambitious growth plans. Over their 30 years’ experience within the industry Abbey has now worked closely with many of the major end users such as BP, Exxon and Statoil.
PROSPER HELPING YOU
Contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144 lloydsbank.com/manufacturing
IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR
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Artworker’s BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15 Name Andy Stallard
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PROFIT CHAMPIONS
SUPPORTING UK BUSINESS
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IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR Lloyds Bank is dedicated to supporting UK manufacturers. With specially trained relationship managers for the manufacturing sector, an extensive range of products, and a proven commitment to lending, we’re here to help. To find out how we are supporting manufacturing businesses contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144. lloydsbank.com/manufacturing
Any property given as security which may include your home, may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or other debts secured on it. All lending is subject to a satisfactory credit assessment. Lloyds Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under Registration Number 119278. We subscribe to The Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk