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