There are 71 construction firms named in a new list of the UK’s 1,000 fastest growing companies with revenue between £6m - £250m.
Construction firms like Base Build Services, Robertson Group and McCallan Bros are three of the names in ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’, which has been published by the London Stock Exchange.
Companies are selected for continuous growth and outperformance relative to their own sector.
Some of the consumer names include BrewDog, the feisty Scottish brewery, Moonpig, the online printer, Skyscanner, the flight comparison website and Hunter Boot, worn by celebrities like Alexa Chung. One of the key unknown firms is SugaRich, who recycle unsold bread to create animal feed.
Moving away from relying solely on static Companies House data, Growth Intelligence software uses billions of real-time data points – from sources including email traffic, financial transactions, PCs on the web and office space – to figure out ‘growth’.
Growth Intelligence software tracks indicators such as employee growth, intellectual property and investments in patents and office space.
These are far better indications of growth that old-fashion metrics allow because they imply companies planning ahead, whereas stockpiles of cash alone offer no such indicator.
Even lorry-spotter blogs are included. They identify fluctuations in road traffic activity for oil, agriculture and transport companies, which can define export movements. This was critical in identifying how SugaRich was stepping up its business with dozens of its lorries spotted by the web forums.
The software is used by numerous blue chips including BT, Lloyds, Barclays and KPMG.
Tom Gatten, CEO of Growth Intelligence, said: “Our software works by automatically scanning tens of millions of websites and documents continuously. If a company changes, it is reflected in our system, and because of this, we believe it’s a far better way to categorise business and measure growth than current, older, paper-based methods.
“Construction is obviously a vital element of Britain’s recovery, so to see so many growing businesses outperforming the market is highly positive. This shows there’s a huge amount of movement in the sector right now, which can hopefully build many long-standing benefits for the economy.
“What this report reveals is the true face of Britain’s recovery – a mix of high fashion and new technology and some quite unique businesses that you would never find using conventional methods. Clearly firms like Metro Bank and BrewDog have had heaps of press, but who’s previously heard of Sugarich, pig feed manufacturers who grew faster than PayPal, Google and Apple?”
