presented by
presented by
To describe something as unique is to say that it's definitive - and either word will serve as a description of the Clarke Willmott Business Achievement Awards, presented in conjunction with DECISION business magazine.
Unique because none of the award winners were nominated or were able to put themselves forward; and there's no judging panel to give a subjective view.
Definitive because the recipients were identified as a consequence of research at Companies House and were presented with their awards solely because of their financial performance, based on information audited by an independent third-party (ie audited and filed accounts).
Presenting the 2009 winnersMore than 150 directors attended the 2009 presentation evening which took place in the atrium at 1000 Lakeside, Northarbour, Portsmouth. The award winners and guests were welcomed by Peter Gubb, chief executive of Highcross, the property fund managers who have transformed the 275,000sqft former IBM United Kingdom headquarters into a multi-occupier office building.
Biggest increase in turnover by a public company - All Leisure Group PLCIt's not the first time that the recipients have stepped forward to receive the presentation. All Leisure Group plc, with investment in an additional cruise liner and in high profile brands such as Voyages of Discovery and Swan Hellenic, produced a 49.7% increase in sales to £67.5m. Here accepting the award from Sally Norcross-Webb, partner at Clarke Willmott is director Tony Dyson.
Biggest increase in turnover by a private company - Bourne GroupFirst, let's quote a line from the award winner's chairman in their annual report: "The indiscriminate damage caused by the banks has affected every business sector, but construction more than most. In fact it's the most challenging period for twenty years. The importance of cash generation outweighs the importance of earnings." That said, Bourne Group, based in Poole, sub-contractors to the construction industry, specialising in steel, raised turnover by 38% to a record £63.2million. Finance director Howard Davis accepted the award from Sally Norcross-Webb.
Biggest increase in turnover by a private company including acquisitions - The Listening CompanyThe Listening Company, with their HQ in Richmond and one of their offices in Portsmouth, specialise in customer relationship management, call centres, and telemarketing. The 40% increase in sales to £51.4million includes the strategic acquisition of the Essentia Group to broaden the company's geography. Group finance director Anna Culver is here accepting the award from Sally Norcross-Webb.
Biggest increase in turnover by a global service-based company - RD Card HoldingsThe recipients are the world leaders in card fraud protection and payment processing, a company which also has card issuing operations. Clients include household names such as Wal-Mart, John Lewis, Maceys. and Texaco. The accounts show a 46.6% increase to £289million. Carl Clump, chief executive of RD Card Holdings - Retail Decisions is the main brand - received the award from Sally Norcross-Webb.
This, and the following two categories are for companies which ignore the opt-out clauses offered by Companies House and elect for complete transparency by filing full accounts when they don't have to. Arguably it's also a clear statement of ambitious intent.
So, the biggest increase in turnover of a small company filing full accounts, starting from under £1m - goes to Zappies,
the Worthing-based distributor of toys and games. Set up by Stephen Suckling in 2006 with 5K, the company now sells to some of the country's
biggest retailers, and in the last financial year took sales from 215,000 to what is now £1.5million. And he's still got time to
maintain his full pilot's licence. Tim Forer of Clarke Willmott is presenting the award to Stephen Suckling.
For the biggest increase in turnover of a small company filing full accounts, starting from more than £1million -
Applied Card Technologies are an independent company specialising in smart card transaction systems, and currently support
some 9million smart card holders globally. The company raised sales 150% to £3.3million. Here accepting the award from Tim
Forer is Nikki Knight.
Biggest increase in turnover by a 'medium' company - Amicable Building AssitanceNow - proof that engineers can be pretty savvy when it comes to marketing and branding. When graduate civil engineer Reza Modifi set up his company to work on new building, repairs, and refurbishment, he focused on a niche working on behalf of insurers and loss adjustors. And came up with the name Amicable Building Assistance. And then the strapline Building Solutions Together. In the last year turnover was up 219% to £7.84million. Reza Modifi is receiving the award from Tim Forer.
Biggest increase in turnover in the leisure industry - Pebble HotelsIf there's an unsung economic hero, a cinderella industry almost, then it has to be tourism and leisure. But it's of critical importance to this region, and this special award for the biggest increase in turnover of a leisure/tourism business is designed to reflect that. This year it goes to Pebble Hotels, a new group headquartered at their Potters Heron hotel, Romsey. Turnover was up from under £1million to £3million in a year, and in the first six months of the new year, EBITDA is up by almost 70%. Accepting the award from Tim Forer is sales director Mark Bramley.
Biggest increase in turnover by an international business - Fee Group PLCWe're also presenting an award for the company based in our region but whose operations are completely elsewhere. Set up in July 2004 to operate high-quality casinos in Asia, Henley-based Fee Group plc set up an electronic betting operation in northern Laos - patronised by Chinese, Thai, and Burmese players who can't gamble in their own country. In October, a bricks and mortar casino opened in Sri Lanka, and in 2010 a larger casino in North Africa. But who would have bet on turnover rocketing from a mere 20K in the previous year to £14.7million to December 2008. Chris Derrett received the award from Mick Mundy, partner, Clarke Willmott.
Behind the quoted company which has reported the biggest increase in pre-tax profit lies a remarkable tale. Here was a FTSE 100 company specialising in electrical engineering when the then CEO decided to chuck it all in for telecoms instead. The transition was completed just in time for that sector to face an unprecedented slump in 2002. The fact that Spirent Communications plc is alive and well, despite the parallel with GEC Marconi is an extraordinary testament to management determination,and ability, and in the last financial year, pre-tax profits were up 179% to £49.6m.
The biggest increase in pre-tax profits of a private company was achieved by Isle of Wight-based composites manufacturer Gurit. On sales of £77million in each year, the company turned a 27k loss into a £7m profit without any sale of assets or acquisitions.
Biggest increase in profit by a finance/insurance company - Fortis InsuranceIf you had been completely cocooned from media coverage of the economy for the last year - how nice would that have been - and the first document you read was the profit and loss account of Fortis Insurance, you'd be stunned to learn that actually, there's been a recession on. The award for the biggest increase in profit of a insurance/finance company has been introduced partly because of the sector's importance to our region, but also to demonstrate that there is still strength in the sector in terms of bottom-line performance. And Fortis Insurance are an exemplar, with pre-tax profits up for the last year up 335% to £55.2million. Chief executive Barry Smith received the award from Mick Mundy of Clarke Willmott.
Biggest increase in profit by a construction company - Geoffrey Osborne LtdTalking about reading the P&L, how many people rubbed their their eyes - and more than once - when they read the accounts of Geoffrey Osborne Limited. Okay, this has always been a pioneering business, one of the first to develop from civil engineering to embrace construction, to get involved with social housing, to set up specialist units working for the railway for example. But what an achievement in the year ending March 2009 to boost turnover from £304m to £334m and to turn a £1.8m loss into a £2.5m profit. Group finance director Gordon Shepherd is here accepting the award from Marc Long of Clarke Willmott.
Biggest increase in employment - Liverpool VictoriaNow of course there's nothing in the companies act which obliges business to take on staff. Similarly, the media needs to understand that redundancy isn't necessarily a sign of weakness but of strength if it means a company is addressing the difficult issues to ensure its position. That said, and despite the importance of SMEs, the presence of major players in the region has a material effect on job creation, which adds to the wealth and wellbeing of our communities. So this year we have introduced an award for the company which has reported the biggest increase in employment over the year. LV - Bournemouth-based Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, upped its numbers predominantly as a consequence of growth, plus a continued policy of in-sourcing and acquisition by 79.2% to a head count of 3536 in the last year. Darren Bartlett accepted the award from Marc Long.
Biggest increase in investment in R&D by a public company - G4SIf we're going to have a knowledge-based economy, then our spend on research and development is an important indicator. We have introduced two awards, tor the public company making the biggest increase in R&D investment and for the technology-based company, a sector where R&D is an absolute pre-requisite. G4S plc, with headquarters in Crawley, have operations in over 110 countries and have more employees than the population of most British cities (585,000 at the last count). They're known for security services, what are called outsourced justice services, and ordnance disposal. But G4S don't just continue to do well by following the time-honoured approach. There's a continual investment in developing new service concepts and products to maintain their market leadership position and to drive shareholder value - their R&D spend was up 67% in the last year to £3.5m. Here receiving the award from Marc Long is director of investor relations Helen Parris.
Biggest increase in investment in R&D by a technology company - SDLFor a company whose very existence is based on developing technical knowledge which can be translated into product or service, R&D is mission critical. SDL plc have a reputation for the quality and efficacy of their global information management and content management systems. They posted the biggest increase in R&D of technology or IT-based company, up 50% in the last year to £8million. Gary Levitt stepped forward to receive the award from John Russell of Clarke Willmott.
Corporate social responsibility has entered the business vocabulary, but regardless of differing opinion about its definition and implementation, there's no doubt that charities and community organisations have a reliance on the largess of the business community. These have been worrying times for them, and our penultimate awards go to companies which have really stepped up to the plate.
First - the award for the biggest increase in charitable donations by a private company goes to Wates, one of the UK's largest
construction groups, family-owned, based at Leatherhead, and with a turnover of more than a billion pounds. In addition to donating
8000 man hours and product to 75 community projects last year, the group (quite apart from the family's charitable work) upped its
financial donations from £58,000 to £583,000. Accepting the award from John Russell is Brian Wheelwright.
The award for the biggest
increase in charitable donations by a public company goes to SDL plc, in the teeth of a recession,
the fully-quoted company still set up the SDL Foundation to sponsor projects which are championed and actively supported by
its employees. It's mission is to encourage sustainable structural development that improves the quality of life for disadvantaged
communities around the globe. In purely financial terms that meant an increase in financial contributions from just over £1000 to
£256,000. Here receiving the award from John Russell is Michelle Wilson.
We finish with three awards to companies which have achieved the biggest year-on-year improvement to their top line and bottom line.
First, the most successful fast-track company. Providers of international private medical cover, Alchemy-backed Interglobal insurance,
based at Farnham, have produced the kind of performance in the first two years that comparisons can be made which can only be described as
blistering - something which their policies probably cover. Sales up from £26.7m to £116.7m, pre-tax profits up from £387,000
to £5.3million.
How appropriate that their head of sales, Paul Weigall should receive the award from Steve Ingram, partner at Clarke Willmott.
The most successful private company - WDS GlobalLast year produced their best ever results - revenue up 62% to £48million, and pre-tax profits rising from £13,000 to £3.4million. Based in Poole, WDS Global, Wireless Data Services, provide knowledge-based services to the wireless data sector. Robert Hopkins accepted the award from Steve Ingram.
The most successful public company - All Leisure Group PLCWe finish with perfect symetry. Their 49.7% increase in sales to £67.5million has already been mentioned. Let's introduce the increase in profit of 91% to £9.1million, and re-introduce All Leisure Group plc. Tony Dyson receives their award from Steve Ingram.