The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over their latest three years. It is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each December, with an awards event the following May, and alumni dinners during the year.
The closing date for nominations for the 2020 league table is 25 September, with publication on 6 December 2020.
Fast Track 100 entry criteria
The closing date for nominations for the 2020 league table is 25 September, with publication on 6 December.
- UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
- Sales of at least £250,000 in the base year (2016 or 2017)
- Sales of at least £5m in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
- Ten or more employees in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
- Operating profit of at least £500k in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
- Year-on-year sales growth in the latest year from 2018 to 2019, or 2019 to 2020, plus forecast (or actual) sales growth
- Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25
- Recruitment firms, payroll services providers, energy firms and media agencies are required to have gross profits of at least £5m. Sales for recruitment and payroll firms are the total amount invoiced to clients; media agencies’ sales are net of advertising spend on behalf of clients
- Companies that do not meet all the criteria can still be considered for our Ones to Watch programme, particularly if they forecast good sales growth
Exclusions
- Technology companies (which appear on Tech Track 100), LLPs, pure property and financial trading companies, and companies with sales of over £500m
- Companies that are equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted or other companies
- We reserve the right to change the qualification criteria set out above and to make exceptions. This is not a competition; the compiler’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
Congratulations to the largest employer on 2019’s @ST_Business @VirginAtlantic #FastTrack100 league table – Worcestershire-based contract caterer @aspens_catering, which employs 2,172 and was ranked at No. 88 https://t.co/7leIvRQgWs
Congratulations to Britain’s 10 fastest-growing private companies founded or co-founded by women: @MissomaLondon, @OoniHQ, @ChildsFarm, @Warnersign, @ohpolly, @Bluefintrading, Strathberry, @SleekEvents_, @Cultbeauty, and @Grenadeofficial https://t.co/FCWvKIkRH2
Still room for improvement but there are a record 28 female founders, co-founders, or chief executives running 26 businesses on this year’s #FastTrack100 league table, the highest number in 23 years @ST_Business @VirginAtlantic
Is your firm growing profits fast enough for a place on the 2020 @BDOaccountant #ProfitTrack100? Nominate yourself here:
Congratulations to @BrewDog on their record eighth consecutive appearance on our #FastTrack100 at No. 57 this year. The league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales @BrewDogJames @MartinDickie https://t.co/2QLIM3810X
Many of the companies on the @ST_FastTrack list are founded by serial entrepreneurs who have previously set up successful companies – which got @richardbranson thinking about what makes a serial entrepreneur:
What are your thoughts? https://t.co/VAGLLLuXjj https://t.co/nOLEWctAdu
Stars of the @ST_Business @BDOaccountant #ProfitTrack100 include @MerlinEvents, @endava, and @Petsathome. Nominations are now open for the 2020 #ProfitTrack100 league table:
Entrepreneurs are the ones driving innovation, chasing improvements and challenging the norm. There are so many inspiring examples of this on the Fast Track 100 league table https://t.co/XcPFy0o3sJ @ST_FastTrack https://t.co/3xqobO3tZy
Types of company
Total sales
£5m - £100mProfits
up to £10mAverage 3 year sales growth
45% - 200% paStaff
10 - 2,000Over the past 23 years our sponsorship has produced great results introducing Virgin to many inspiring entrepreneurs Sir Richard Branson, Virgin
The best of the best entrepreneurs celebrated, which inspires and powers British business Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, co-founder & chairman, Cobra Beer
Fast Track have given Wattbike a new level of credibility and risen our profile Richard Baker, managing director, Wattbike
Being part of Fast Track turbo charges your business Cecile Reinaud, founder & managing director, Séraphine
Fast Track brought us to the attention of the market and since then we've gone from a private business to private equity-backed and on to a successful float Tom Joule, founder & chief brand officer, Joules
Fast Track celebrates the very best of Britain's entrepreneurial businesses and helps promote and propel them to new levels Matt Isaacs, founding partner & executive chairman, Essence
Fast Track has been instrumental in developing brand kudos for our business Steven Ades, finance director, AerFin
Alumni success stories
Featured in 1997 with sales of £17m; floated in 1998 and sold in 2016 to SoftBank for £24bn
First featured in 1997 with sales of £65m; agreed a £3.8bn merger with Dixons in 2014
First featured on Fast Track 100 in 2011 with sales of £6.7m; floated in 2014 and is now worth £2.4bn
Sponsors
