Tech Track 100 entry criteria

Tech companies

The closing date for nominations for the 2021 league table is 2 July 2021, with publication in September 2021.

• Independent tech* company
• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• Sales of at least £250,000 in the base year (2017 or 2018)
• Sales of at least £5m in the latest year (2020 or 2021)
Year-on-year sales growth in the latest year from 2019 to 2020, or 2020 to 2021
• Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25
• Excluded companies include payday lenders, computer resellers and companies that are equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted or other companies. IT consultancies and IT services companies are required to generate a significant proportion of their sales from proprietary technologies
• 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
• Companies that do not meet the criteria can still be considered for the Ones to Watch programme. This is a selection of companies that have either achieved, or predict, good sales growth.

*The definition of a technology company is based on the London Stock Exchange’s techMARK definition, i.e. “a company that shows a commitment to innovation, research and product development, and operates in sectors including software, internet, telecoms and biotech.”

Fast Track 100 entry criteria

The closing date for nominations is 25 September, with publication on 6 December 2020.

• 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)
• Year-on-year sales growth in the latest year from 2018 to 2019, or 2019 to 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)
• 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

SME Export Track 100 Entry Criteria

Total sales less than £25m

• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• International sales of at least £150,000 in the base year (2016 or 2017)
• International sales of at least 20% of total sales in the latest year (2018 or 2019)
• Total sales of between £5m and £25m in the latest year (2018 or 2019)
• Year-on-year international sales growth in the latest year from 2017 to 2018, or 2018 to 2019
• Operating profit must be positive in the latest year (2018 or 2019)
• Ten or more employees in the latest year (2018 or 2019)
• Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25
• Recruitment firms, payroll services providers 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
• Excluded companies include LLPs, pure property and financial trading companies; 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

International Track 200 entry criteria

Total sales £25m-£1bn

The closing date for nominations is13 November 2020, with publication on 21 February 2021

• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• International sales of at least £500,000 in the base year (2017 or 2018)
• International sales of at least £1m in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
• Total sales of at least £25m and less than £1bn in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
• International sales of at least 5% of total sales in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
• Year-on-year international sales growth in the latest year from 2018 to 2019, or 2019 to 2020
• Operating profit must be positive in the latest year (2018 or 2019)
• Ten or more employees in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
• Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25
• Recruitment firms, payroll services providers, media agencies and travel agencies are required to have gross profits of at least £5m. Sales for recruitment and payroll firms are the total amount invoiced to clients
• Excluded companies include LLPs, pure property and financial trading companies; 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

Profit Track 100 entry criteria

The closing date for nominations for the 2021 league table is 7 February 2021, with publication in late April 2021.

• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• Profits of at least £500,000 in the base year (2016 or 2017)
• Profits of at least £3m in the latest year (2019 or 2020)
• Profits are defined as operating profits before exceptional items
• Profits must increase in the latest year, from 2018 to 2019, or 2019 to 2020
• Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25
• Excluded companies include pure property and financial trading companies, and those with restricted accounts; companies that are equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted or other companies
• Companies that do not meet the criteria can still be considered for the Ones to Watch programme. This is a selection of companies that have either achieved, or predict, good profit growth
• 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

Top Track 250 entry criteria

Sales £110m - £700m

The closing date for nominations is 16 July 2021, with publication on 3 October 2021.

• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• Sales are taken as total turnover, net of VAT
• Sales in the latest year must have grown by 5% or more for companies with the highest sales, graduated to 10% for those with lower sales; or profit growth must have been 5% or more
• Companies must also have operating profit margins that exceed 2%
• Trading weeks in the latest year have to exceed 25
• Companies may have their ultimate holding company offshore
• Sales are typically between £110m and £700m

Exclusions

• Companies that are either equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted companies
• Companies with the majority of sales generated by their quoted subsidiaries
• Companies with fewer than 50 staff
• Not-for-profit companies, co-operative societies, mutual societies, provident associations, and member-owned buying groups
• 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

Top Track 100 entry criteria

Sales £750m - £25bn

The closing date for nominations is 28 May 2021, with publication in July 2021.

• UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries
• Sales are taken as total turnover, net of VAT
• Companies are not required to be in profit
• Trading weeks in the latest year have to exceed 25
• Companies must have at least 100 staff (average full-time equivalents for the year)
• Bookmakers, betting and gaming companies should provide net revenue
• Companies may have their ultimate holding company offshore
• Sales are typically between £750m and £25bn

Exclusions

• Companies that are either equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted companies
• Pure trading companies and companies with fewer than 100 staff (average full-time equivalents for the year)
• Not-for-profit companies, including co-operative societies, mutual societies, provident associations, and member-owned buying groups
• 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