These are the eight fastest-growing companies in Yorkshire

Hoverboards and trampolines have helped propel Yorkshire companies into the 23rd Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100, which ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Seaton, co-founder and CEO of Sheffield-based Twinkl, whose website has over 625,000 educational resources, available in 18 languages. PHOTO: Simon Hulme.Entrepreneur Jonathan Seaton, co-founder and CEO of Sheffield-based Twinkl, whose website has over 625,000 educational resources, available in 18 languages. PHOTO: Simon Hulme.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Seaton, co-founder and CEO of Sheffield-based Twinkl, whose website has over 625,000 educational resources, available in 18 languages. PHOTO: Simon Hulme.

Eight Yorkshire companies feature in this year’s league table – a marked improvement on last year, when the county’s firms filled just five of the 100 places.

Sales at the Yorkshire businesses, seven of which are new entrants, have grown by an average of 73 per cent a year over three years to a total of £137.1m.

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The region’s top-ranked company – in 15th place nationally – is hoverboard supplier Bluefin Trading. Based in Hebden Bridge, it exports to Germany, France and Australia, and grew sales to an annualised £6.7m in 2018 by an average of 122 per cent a year over three years.

Other new entrants include Castleford-based trampoline park operator Gravity Active Entertainment (60th), which provides trampolines, indoor climbing, golf, and virtual reality games, exclusively in shopping centres. It has raised £8m in funding from Guinness Asset Management since 2017, and has grown its sales by 56 per cent a year, hitting £9.8m in 2018.

The other Yorkshire firms are Dewsbury lock-maker Brisant Secure (18th), luxury bathroom retailer Lusso Stone, of Middlesbrough (27th), Brighouse-based surfacing resin wholesaler The Resin Mill (56th), Sheffield educational resources provider Twinkl (61st), equity release adviser Age Partnership (91st), and renewable energy supplier United Gas & Power (94th), both of Leeds.

The Fast Track 100 is sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, Barclays, BDO, BGF and N+1 Singer, and is compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track.

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Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group, said: “While these are uncertain times, there is one thing I am certain of: entrepreneurs are the ones driving innovation, chasing improvements and challenging the norm.

“There are so many inspiring examples of this on the Fast Track 100 league table and it’s heartening to see the power of entrepreneurship to create jobs and positive change across Britain.”

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