1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2018' report identifies 70 Yorkshire companies

This year 70 companies were identified from Yorkshire and The Humber and despite macro economic uncertainty, the average annual growth rate of these companies is 38 per cent.

Take Yorkshire Wildlife Park, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wild Life Group, which is one of the UK’s fastest-growing attractions, with annual visitor numbers reaching more than 750,000. Its 300 acre site includes numerous big cats, the only polar bears in England and a series of renowned walk-through animal areas.

As John Minion, CEO of Yorkshire Wildlife Parks, said, “Our success is founded on animal welfare and conservation along with year on year expansion of the Park, providing new exhibits and content, increased leisure and key events like Safari Nights, making us one of Yorkshire’s most visited attractions. As we look to further expand, through the acquisition of adjoining land, we will support the local economy and add another 300 jobs.”

Or Whitby Seafoods, the family-owned business focused on sourcing and supplying seafood, including Whitby Scampi, to food service and retail customers. The company was founded in 1985 when Graham Whittle bought the then defunct Whitby Shellfish Company and set out to transform the British breaded scampi industry.

These are just two businesses that are illustrative of the potential of dynamic small companies in Yorkshire. As the Chancellor said at the launch event, “small businesses are the backbone of the British economy with a combined annual turnover of £1.9 trillion and employ 60 per cent of private sector workers outside of London.”

So the economic potential of these inspirational companies is clear. What we need to ensure is that we capitalise on this opportunity. It is these companies that are innovating, creating job and driving economic growth for us all.

But to this day the vast majority of SME finance comes in the form of debt, primarily from banks.

This is fine for larger established companies but does little to support dynamic companies who need to dedicate all their economic capital to investing, innovating and growing, rather than servicing a monthly loan.

Over reliance on debt means too many entrepreneurs are scaling back their ambitions rather than scaling up their businesses. We must give our fledgling growth companies access to long-term or Patient Capital, like equity, where people seek investment to grow their business either through individual investors, capital markets, crowdfunding or peer-to-peer platforms.

The potential of equity finance is also clear. When the Government previously made shares on the UK’s globally successful growth market, AIM, eligible for ISA inclusion, £4bn of extra capital flowed into these companies. Additionally, inheritance tax relief supports long-term investment in many job-creating AIM companies and enables family and founder-led businesses to go public and pursue further growth rather than being sold.

And as we seek to build an export-led economy, innovative equity-funded firms, such as those quoted on AIM, are five times more likely to export than the national average.

These companies are highly innovative, counting thousands of patents and trademarks between them, creating jobs that tend to be high quality and well paid, whilst helping to address our productivity problem and give the next generation the economic future they deserve.

No wonder independent studies have a shown just a one per cent increase in high growth potential businesses would create 230,000 new jobs and add £38bn to UK GDP.

So, we welcome the Government’s recognition when setting out its Industrial Strategy that more must be done to support innovative businesses to scale up. We fully supported the Patient Capital Review and the £2.5bn British Business Bank fund will ensure billions of extra pounds of vital investment flows into our dynamic SMEs. We were delighted The British Business Bank together with BGF and Cenkos sponsored this year’s report.

Businesses in Yorkshire and Humber are doing so much to bolster job creation and foster innovation.

The opportunity to put greater access to finance for them front and centre of any industrial strategy cannot be missed. As we seize this opportunity, the economic rewards could be significant.

Read about Yorkshire’s inspiring businesses at www.1000companies.com