Numbers 41-60
41. Impact Community Developments
Health and social work
£583,266
346%
David Lowther
42. Nottinghamshire Business Venture
Business support agency
£784,797
339%
Richard Dearden
43. Mastclimbers Limited
Construction
£5,606,954
334%
Andrew Reid
44. 2XL Recruitment Ltd
London care workers recruitment agency
£2,095,419
323%
John Prescod
45. Cardinal Maritime Limited
Ocean Freight Specialists
£8,301,066
315%
David Garratt
46. Thorns Group Plc
Events, exhibition and conference supplies provider
£5,679,130
308%
Graham Langley-Jones
47. Action for Employment Limited (A4E)
Community recruitment agency
£32,128,730
298%
Mark Lovell
48. Moonfish Limited
Real estate, renting, and business activities
£2,232,463
289%
Kate Drewett
49. Stairlifts (Scotland) Ltd.
Access lifts and public access products
£2,233,244
266%
Lisa Barry
50. PJs Food Ltd
Sporting event, airport, tourist attraction and retail outlet caterers
£1,055,038
259%
Scott Cherry
51. Riverside Truck Rental Limited
Municipal truck hire
£9,620,766
259%
Steve Parkinson
52. Magnus Electrical Services Ltd
Electrician’s services
£587,250
255%
Colin Murray
53. Sheffield Rebuild Limited
Redeveloping rundown areas
£5,179,328
251%
Neil Fieldhouse
54. Teswaine Business Communications Ltd
Telecoms
£9,479,778
239%
Peter Patsalides
55. DP Furniture Express
Furniture retailer
£27,605,857
233%
John Marshall
56. Andor Technology Ltd
Manufacturing
£9,208,000
228%
Mark Donaghy
57. Smartstyle Technology Training Ltd
Educational training
£439,551
226%
Mandy Jones
58. Scheff Foods Ltd
Food Manufacturing
£3,710,092
221%
Mohan Chauhan
59. Ecco Finishing Supplies Limited
Wholesale and retail trade
£1,255,477
208%
Keith Miller
60. Raresupply Ltd
Audio retail
£3,887,694
206%
Juliette Abrams
The Inner City 100, now in its third year, has dug deep to find the top 100 inner city companies and found some gems. Growing Business presents them for your perusal starting with numbers 1-20.
1. Techtonik
Software development company
£59,955,423
68,7075%
Peter Johnson
2. Solarcentury
Design, supply, and installation of solar electric systems
£2,789,779
8,073%
Jeremy Leggett
3. Medea International Ltd
Wholesalers of audio visual and multi-media accessories
£10,570,667
4,626%
Yusuf Okhai
4. Freight Solutions UK Ltd
Freight Solutions
£938,229
3,627%
Peter Shortt
5. Jump Group Ltd
Property retailer
£47,668,306
1,703%
Jason Butler
6. Composite Legal Expenses Ltd
Legal Expenses insurer
£10,347,134
1,303%
John Mullin
7. Bluefrog Limited
Advertising for the charity sector
£8,986,301
1,034%
Mark Phillips
8. Argento Contemporary Jewellery Ltd
Retailers specialising in contemporary silver jewellery
£1,293,019
1,025%
Peter Boyle
9. KGB Cleaning and Support Services Ltd
Commercial cleaning service provider
£8,662,959
995%
Kevan Brown
10. FM Holdings Limited
Publishing and property services provider
£1,102,626
965%
Matthew H Fraser Moat
11. New Mind Internet Consultancy Ltd
New media and marketing agency
£514,987
916%
Richard Yeal
12. Organica (UK) Ltd
Manufacturer of biotechnology products
£310,465
890%
Anthony Davies
13. Future Health and Social Care Association
Social housing, training and employment provider
£2,039,616
852%
Roger Telphia
14. Mando Group
Web development and design consultancy
£1,250,174
772%
Matthew Johnson
15. Zen Internet
Internet service provider
£7,809,151
740%
Richard Tang
16. JAC Training and Development
Supplier of education and training programmes
£535,522
733%
Mike Allerton
17. Sift
Internet solutions
£4,424,028
672%
Ben Heald
18. Central Trust Plc
Consumer finance services provider
£500,422,519
667%
Andrew Turner
19. River Pro Audio
Audio Equipment manufacturer and distributor
£1,261,521
639%
Joel Monger
20. STRIDE
Supplier of furniture and training services
£401.889
614%
Phil Saunders
Numbers 61-80
61. Strategic Systems Solutions Ltd
IT solutions for the financial services
£28,959,368
196%
Owen Weeks
62. B-Plan Information Systems
Corporate solution
£5,600,000
195%
Kate Hosier
63. Southwark Cathedral Enterprises Limited
Wholesale and retail trade
£552,648
188%
Sarah King
64. Intelect (UK) Ltd
Construction, and electrical services
£3,039,762
187%
Fran Cormican
65. A C S Clothing Ltd
Highland dress
£1,835,306
176%
Richard Freedman
66. Action Housing Association Limited
Community housing association
£2,056,206
173%
Russell Ward
67. Glen Oaks Housing Association Limited
Community housing association
£2,867,808
168%
Alasdair McKee
68. N C S Group Ltd
Wholesale and retail trade
£11,827,741
164%
Tom Nolan
69. Atlas London Property Limited
Property search site
£3,389,334
161%
Harry Krishna Beharry
70. Williams and Williams Limited
Insurance broking
£2,200,542
161%
Mark Williams
71. The Daylight Company Limited
Simulated natural daylight lamps
£2,999,175
158%
Patrick Jacquelin
72. Bill Goff Golf Tours
Golfing holidays
£4,837,990
152%
Paul Challen
73. Sense Internet Ltd
Website design agency
£887,148
149%
Aidan Cook
74. Tile Mart Ltd
Tiling retailer
£1,643,130
143%
Zabir Patel
75. Allied Vehicles Limited
Transport, storage and communication
£27,192,162
135%
Gavin Gillies
76. Tempest Technology Ltd
Billing and customer care software solutions
£1,526,582
133%
Tim Sayer
77. UK Industrial Tapes
Industrial adhesive tape suppliers
£2,348,077
132%
Ruth Welch
78. Oscar and Dehn
Lifestyle therapy solutions
£970,465
129%
St John Groom
79. Squirrel Storage Limited
Archive storage solutions
£4,174,992
129%
Simon Ruston
80. Lambhill Court Limited
Health and social work
£2,685,107
128%
Deepak Poddar
Numbers 21 - 40
21. Taurus Infomatics
IT Infrastructure solutions
£5,026,909
595%
Glyn Heath
22. ClinPhone Group Ltd
Clinical technology solutions
£20,309,531
546%
Patrick Hughes
23. 151 Products Limited
Wholesale and retail trade
£10,913,541
522%
Richard Shonn
24. Caldeira Ltd
Cushion manufacturer
£5,342,077
497%
Tony Caldeira
25. Cash Management Systems Ltd
Cash and bank supply chain management
£773,222
493%
Matthew Alston
26. Gas Call Services
Gas maintenance and installation services
£3,235,037
480%
Mike Donnelly
27 Wilton Healthcare Ltd
Real estate, renting, and business activities
£934,140
466%
Jim Carvill
28. Spin Media
PR planning, media relations, event management, and marketing support services
£656,111
443%
Andy Spinoza
29. Brambles Foods
Sandwich and salad supplier
£10,457,014
420%
Howard Farquhar
30. Hackney Community Transport
Community transport service
£3,698,384
390%
Dai Powell
31. John Mills Limited
Wholesale and retail trade
£35,482,034
390%
John Mills
32. Temploy Recruitment Services Ltd
Recruitment
£3,589,180
389%
Karl Hart
33. Kingfisher Building Co Ltd
Building solutions
£10,187,541
387%
Peter Davies
34. Suffolk Life Group plc
Financial services
£296,494,000
384%
Henry Catchpole
35. Precious Homes Ltd
Health and social work
£1,741,473
373%
Mitesh Dhanak
36. The London Bar Company
Hotels and restaurants
£1,416,058
366%
Rupert Beak
37. Associated Network Solutions Plc (ANS)
IT Solutions
£5,197,303
365%
Scott Fletcher
38. Bluefire Consulting Ltd
Specialist recruitment agency
£756,857
365%
Jamie Swain
39. Love Saves the Day
Restaurant
£480,746
361%
Beckie Joyce
40. Mellors Catering Services Ltd
Catering services
£4,050,373
351%
Numbers 81-100
81. Live Information Systems Ltd
Content management support and new media solutions
£376,955
128%
Darius Khadjenouri
82. The Big Agency
Public and not-for-profit sector publishing
£2,770,661
125%
Peter Gould
83. Prevista Ltd
Social, cultural and economic development
£1,979,486
123%
Richard Parkes
84. iDOiNK Technologies Ltd
Business systems management solutions
£1,389,524
122%
Steve O’Donoghue
85. Rhodes and Sons Construction Ltd
Construction
£3,583,563
122%
David Rhodes
86. Cableworld Ltd
Wholesale cable manufacturer
£1,834,518
120%
Jim Vegad
87. House of Hair and Beauty
Hair and beauty salon
£361,805
119%
Neil Hull
88. Regional Car Park Services
Car park services
£954,704
119%
Shapoor Naghshineh
89. Blueprint Management Systems Ltd
Perfomance management and business intelligence solutions
£2,583,418
117%
Chris Wigglesworth
90. Universal Arches
Industrial arches manufacturer
£2,583,418
117%
Paula Degiorgio
91. Nicholas Associates Limited
Real estate, renting, and business activities
£20,458,818
116%
Nicholas Cragg
92. Multijet (Cardiff) Ltd
Inkjet cartridges
£929,381
114%
Stuart Pace
93. Blue River Design
Graphic design agency
£630,235
113%
Simon Douglas
94. First Security (Guards) Limited
Security guard services
£38,940,000
106%
Jonathan Levine
95. Regent Envelope Ltd
Wholesale envelope supplier
£4,746,483
103%
Mark Regan
96. Watsons Glass and Mirrors Ltd.
Glass processing specialists
£2,628,639
97%
Evan Watson
97. A1 Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Pharmaceuticals supplier
£23,216,229
94%
Gary Lewis
97. Armstrong Craven Ltd
Executive research and business information services
£2,177,100
94%
Sue Craven
98. Paragon Interiors Group
Office design and refurbishment
£5,017,440
92%
Alan Hardy
99. Anvil Software Limited
Financial markets software systems and consultancy services
£5,143,661
88%
Joe Nicholson
Winner - PETER JOHNSON, TECHTONIK
To say 2003 was a productive year for Inner City 100 top gun Techtonik is a huge understatement. From August 2002 to August 2003 turnover grew from £236,000 by a staggering 68,707% to £59,995,500. Exporting its innovative software products to global markets through partnerships with the likes of Microsoft account for the vast majority of Techtonik’s sales, but Peter Johnson, whostarted the company in 1996, is quick to acknowledge the support the business has received in its native North East.
“The award isn’t for us, but the city of Sunderland and the North East as a whole,†says Johnson. “It’s now a good place to do business and entrepreneurs that had left the area are coming back.â€
Johnson is also keen to reference the support services the company has worked with and also the export schemes it’s participated in. The company has worked with local universities and regularly offers work experience placements.
However, Johnson isn’t sure how far Inner City 100 has gone in achieving the government’s objectives. “It’s not really for me to say,†says Johnson, implying it’s up to him and others ‘to do’ instead. “The award proves the model can work,†he adds.
Johnson commends the need to recognise the success of growing businesses, particularly identifying the power of a raised profile given UK banks’ “awful†reluctance to look at future and potential returns when making investments.
So have Microsoft been to Sunderland? “Not yet,†admits Johnson. “But I don’t think anyone has any negative perceptions of us because of where we’re from. They’re only interested in us for what we are.â€