The 12th annual Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 awards dinner was held on 22 November 2016 at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London.
The 240 guests included the founders, chairmen, CEOs and FDs of the featured companies. Guest speakers were James Timpson OBE, chief executive of Timpson, and Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of Pure Gym. Rosaleen Blair, founder and chief executive of Alexander Mann Solutions, spoke at a pre-dinner roundtable discussion.
Each company received a certificate, and Iain Dey, business editor of The Sunday Times, presented the top company award to Virgin Active which has grown its operating profits 29% to £68m in 2015, on sales of £631m.
Past guests
Colin Tenwick Non-exec chairman Addison Lee
Margaret Mountford Chairman Argent Group
Nick Wheeler Founder & chairman Charles Tyrwhitt
Matthew Streets Managing partner Foster + Partners
Mike Parsons Non-exec director McCarthy & Stone
Mark Whitworth Chief executive Peel Ports Group
Jason Bannister Founder & managing director Oak Furniture Land
Larry Billett Senior board member Pret A Manger
Bill Robertson CBE DL Founder & executive chairman Robertson
Emma Lancaster Chief financial officer Study Group
Will Kernan Former chief executive The White Company
Jon White Managing director, UK Turner & Townsend
A wonderful opportunity to meet with peers and aspirational speakersColin Tenwick, non-executive chairman, Addison Lee
Simply the best networking event in the anyone's calendarMike Clare, founder, Dreams
Wonderful networking opportunities with very diverse business owners / CEOsRod Bennion OBE, non-executive chairman, Mabey Holdings
It was a pleasure to be there, congratulations again to you and your teamDouglas Broadley, group CEO, The Imagination Group
Past speakers
Andy Rubin, executive director, Pentland Group
Mark Constantine OBE, co-founder & managing director, Lush
Lord Bamford, chairman, JCB