Property sector’s recovery set to be reflected in the Fastest 50

More property and construction companies are expected to find a place in the Yorkshire Fastest 50, a list of the fastest growing privately-owned companies in the region, which is produced by the Yorkshire Post in association with Top 100 law firm Ward Hadaway.

With the property and construction sector in Yorkshire and the Humber accounting for around 16 per cent of all companies, it certainly plays an important role in regional economic activity. Mark Goldstone, head of business representation and policy at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce acknowledges that times have been tough, but believes the sector is starting to turn the corner. He believes business confidence is helping to drive the revival.

Mr Goldstone added: “Companies which survived the ravages of the last five years are, generally speaking, extremely lean having paid down debt and hoarded cash, but with confidence comes investment, and we are now seeing plans being dusted off.

“Within the Leeds City Region we are at last seeing tower cranes back on the horizon, long anticipated schemes such as Westfield in Bradford are now back on site.

“In York, we look forward to new development at Monks Cross and the opening of John Lewis. The subject of development finance remains an issue as many lenders appear reluctant to come back into the sector without cast iron guarantees, risk aversion is the order of the day.

“Business rates, too, present challenges to occupiers, now often making up significant percentages of rental values, especially in non-prime locations.”

Judy Fawcett, a partner in the property team at Ward Hadaway’s Leeds office, said: “Fast-growing companies need the right sort of premises to allow them to expand their physical footprint as the business grows, but at the same time, they will not want to be paying money for space they don’t use.”

The line-up of the region’s fastest growing companies will be revealed in the Yorkshire Post later this month with the full A to Z list of the 2014 Yorkshire Fastest 50.

Awards will then be handed out to the fastest growing small, medium and large businesses at an awards ceremony in March, with one of those three winners then receiving the ultimate accolade of being crowned Yorkshire’s overall fastest growing business.

In order to be eligible for inclusion in the Fastest 50 list, companies need to be privately-owned. They must have made profits in each of their last three trading years. The companies will be ranked according to the average of their annual turnover growth across their last three trading years.