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
.@Lilyskitchen has been acquired by @Nestle in a deal valuing it at £100m. The upmarket pet food maker, a certified B-Corp, was founded by Henrietta Morrison in 2008, and is now sold in 30 countries, with sales of £31m in 2019 @VirginAtlantic #FastTrack100 https://t.co/tBTuzQnIvR
.@McLarenGroup has partnered with @unisouthampton to develop a personal respirator for frontline NHS staff battling coronavirus. The automotive manufacturer is also part of the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium alongside six other F1 teams
https://t.co/RKY0BPQTax
@Grabyo has partnered with @Reuters to help the media work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. CEO Gareth Capon, said: “The demand for real time updates from trusted news sources is more important than ever right now.”@HiscoxUK #TechTrack100 #OTW https://t.co/YSFBocYyih
@BromptonBicycle has seen a rise in enquiries as Brits work from home. CEO Will Butler-Adams tells the @BBC in this piece on the sectors seeing growth amid the coronavirus lockdown: “People want to have independence." @BDOaccountant #ProfitTrack100 https://t.co/zfzP3W7eg6
Retirement house builder @McCarthyStone, has offered the UK government 300 apartments to use for older people recovering from coronavirus, or NHS key workers who need to stay close to hospitals #floated @GrantThorntonUK #TopTrack250 https://t.co/aTsYP8RCFw
.@Dyson is making at least 10,000 medical ventilators to help the NHS fight coronavirus, with founder Sir James Dyson saying: “the race is on to get it into production.” @HSBCUKBusiness #TopTrack100 https://t.co/zpIms2rEUq
.@Revolut launched in America yesterday. Co-founder Nik Storonsky said “now more than ever, people need to know exactly what is coming in and out of their account.” The digital banking app was valued at $5.5bn in Feb @HiscoxUK #TechTrack100
https://t.co/XlMNpZBtdt
.@INEOS is building a new hand sanitiser plant near Middlesborough. It will make a million bottles per month to help the NHS fight the coronavirus pandemic, and the firm is also planning to build another hand sanitiser plant in Germany @HSBCUKBusiness #TopTrack100
.@BrewDog is doing its bit to help with the coronavirus crisis. The brewer is producing Brewgel ‘punk sanitiser’ which it plans to give away for free to charities and community groups from next week @VirginAtlantic #FastTrack100
https://t.co/Y45VjeY2DO
Many thanks to our #ProfitTrack100 sponsor @UBS for co-hosting our networking dinner in London last night. 14 owners & shareholders – from 14 of Britain’s companies with the fastest-growing profits – swapped stories, insights and future plans. https://t.co/n2OANAiHW1
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 £2.3bn
Sponsors
