Three Welsh firms have featured in a new list of 100 fastest-growing firms in the UK. Swansea's Au Vodka, Genpower in Pembroke and ACAI in Flintshire have all been named as companies with the fastest growth in Wales.
The inaugural Growth 100 recognises and ranks UK private businesses whose founder or founders are still actively involved. Companies are ranked by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in sales over the last three financial years.
To be on the list, businesses must have sales between £3m and £200m, been trading for at least three years and have turned an operating profit in the latest financial year.
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Swansea-based premium vodka venture Au Vodka was founded in 2016 by friends Charlie Morgan and Jackson Quinn. Since then, the brand has experienced skyrocketing revenue and profit growth, underpinned by excellent marketing, use of social media and celebrity endorsements. Its vodka is sold in 40 countries around the world and, most recently, 32 states across the US.
Genpower is the UK distributor of Hyundai Power Products and supplies a wide range of machinery and power tools to the UK market. The firm aims to be the biggest distributor for engine driven power equipment in the UK and to make the Hyundai brand the number one for outdoor power equipment in the home use market.
Last year, it expanded its distribution capacity by taking 100,000 sq ft of new warehousing space in Newport.
Flintshire-based ACAI is the UK’s first and only women’s outdoor wear brand. It was founded in 2016 by Kasia and Joe Bromley and has since seen exceptional growth doubling revenue each year since it began and growing its staff to 25 over the last three years.
The company is now looking to grow internationally after securing £3m from consumer-focused investment firm Growth Partner earlier this year.
The Growth 100 has been published by FEBE which is a business group for entrepreneurs.
It is backed by former BBC Dragons Jenny Campbell and Sarah Willingham, online flower retailer Bloom & Wild, ready meals firm Charlie Bigham's and Solihull sports nutrition business Grenade.
Ms Campbell said: “I’m very proud to be part of something that celebrates and supports the very best British entrepreneurs and their companies. FEBE Growth 100 focuses on true entrepreneurialism. Founders are unique: their experiences, their vision and their resilience are unlike anything else. So, we want to celebrate these ‘dare to doers’ and shine a light on the incredible accomplishments of some of the finest and fastest-growing companies in the country.”
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