Sector in a healthy state thanks to quality businesses throughout the region

It has managed to keep growing during one of the most traumatic economic periods in recent history. It’s anticipated that a number of healthcare firms will have earned a place in a list which honours the region’s fastest growing companies.

The Fastest 50, which is organised by the Yorkshire Post in association with Top 100 law firm Ward Hadaway, has seen a number of businesses from the sector make their way into the rankings since the inaugural event in 2011.

Statistics show that healthcare companies have accounted for more than £100m worth of turnover in Fastest 50 lists over the past three years. The activities they are engaged in range from DNA sequencing to stairlift manufacturing. However, if observers are to be believed, this could be just the tip of a very sizeable iceberg.

Healthcare and innovation has been identified as a key strength for the Leeds city region by inward marketing body Leeds & Partners.

The organisation is aiming high, putting in place a series of initiatives and projects which it says could see up to £1bn worth of investment and new business opportunities, and around 7,000 jobs created in the sector over the next 10 years.

Leeds & Partners has established the Leeds Innovation Health Hub (LIHH) to help drive these efforts.

It is not just in West Yorkshire that opportunities for the healthcare sector are being talked up.

Sheffield’s inward marketing agency Business Sheffield also describes healthcare as a key strength of the city’s economy, citing companies such as B Braun Medical, Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, JRI Orthopaedics, Symmetry Medical, and Swann Morton.

Richard Port, employment partner at Ward Hadaway in Leeds, advises a number of clients in the healthcare sector and acknowledges that opportunities for expansion are multiplying.

He said: “Major shifts in national healthcare policy, combined with issues such as an ageing population, and efforts to promote healthier lifestyles mean that a wide range of different businesses serving a variety of needs are faced with more and more opportunities, not just in the UK but also increasingly overseas.

“At Ward Hadaway, we are carrying out an increasing amount of work for healthcare clients across a range of needs, from corporate finance and commercial advice to employment, property and competition matters.

“Developments in technology are helping to drive innovation and open up markets which simply weren’t there even 10 years ago. Yorkshire is extremely well placed to capitalise on this trend with world-class universities, leading edge research and development institutions and the region’s traditional appetite for putting in the hard work needed to create success.”

Yorkshire’s fastest growing companies will be revealed in the Yorkshire Post later this month. Awards will then be handed out to the fastest growing small, medium and large businesses at an awards ceremony in March.

One of those three winners will then receive the ultimate accolade of being crowned Yorkshire’s overall fastest growing business.