Who’s who on our Mid-Cap Business of the Year award shortlist?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
| Tags: business, Grant Thornton, UK, awards, National Business Awards, shortlist, ASOS, mid-cap, winner, NBA, finalists, ceremony

The National Business Awards, UK’s premier business awards, are taking place on 9 November. Here’s a preview of 10 of the best mid-cap businesses in the UK – all finalists in Grant Thornton’s sponsored category.

The National Business Awards celebrate British business at its best, with more than 150 of the UK’s most innovative and resilient public and private sector businesses making the shortlist in July.

The winners across all 17 categories will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 9 November. Once again, in 2010, Grant Thornton is sponsoring the nomination-only Mid-Cap Business of the Year Award, won last year by ASOS.com.

The mid-cap award will go to ‘the outstanding plc with a turnover of between £25 million to £500 million that has best demonstrated exceptional financial returns, strong growth and innovation strategies, and market prominence in its sector’.

Here are the final 10 in the running for Grant Thornton Mid-Cap Business of the Year:

1. Telecity Group, London
A leading provider of premium network independent data centres in Europe, providing colocation and managed hosting solutions. It has displayed breakneck growth and won several major contracts in recent months, adding to revenues that had already risen 73% from £97.9 million in 2007 to £169.4 million in 2009.

2. Wesleyan Assurance Society, Birmingham
Winner of a regional NBA Award in 2009, Wesleyan Assurance continues to perform, with more than £4 billion of funds under management and an investment return of more than 20% in 2009. Wesleyan Bank continues to make strong progress, as does its general insurance brokerage business.

3. Nichols, Merseyside
This soft drinks business saw group sales rise 17.6% against strong comparatives for last year, with profit before tax up 39%. UK soft drinks sales also increased (by 19.3%), driven by the launch of its new cherry Vimto. Internationally, sales rose by 38.6% with notable growth in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

4. Staffline Group, Nottingham
A well-regarded contract recruitment company that has seen its share price rise in recent months. First-half and full-year earnings are said to be ‘significantly ahead’ of expectations due to new business wins and recent acquisitions.

5. Renew Holdings, Aberford, West Yorkshire
Renew comprises a range of businesses delivering construction and specialist engineering services. Action taken to re-align the business in response to more challenging conditions has resulted in an order book increase of 43% on last year end, no debt and an increase in operating profit.

6. Matchtech Group, Fareham, Hampshire
A technical and professional recruitment specialist established in 1984 and now one of the UK’s top 20 recruitment companies with more than 200 recruitment consultants and a turnover of £258 million in 2008.

7. Severfield-Rowen, North Yorkshire
A market leader in the design, fabrication and erection of structural steelwork, this Yorkshire-based group has a turnover of £394 million and has consistently delivered growth despite the harsh market conditions. Involved with high-profile projects such as the new Terminal 2 building at Heathrow Airport and Wimbledon Centre Court, it has also seen its order book boosted by a new joint venture in India.

8. Allied Healthcare Group, Staffordshire
A long-established domiciliary home care and healthcare staffing provider. Trading for 38 years, Allied Healthcare has a national network of more than 110 branches, covering 90% of the UK population, and a staff of over 10,000. It listed on AIM in 2006, but may be de-listing this year. It recently acquired a majority stake in Irish domiciliary care provider Homecare Independent Living Group to consolidate its position as a market leader.

9. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals, Northamptonshire
Wyndham Exchange & Rentals is a European division of Wyndham Worldwide with a combined turnover of just under £500 million. It has quickly become a major player in vacation rental and exchange in the UK and Europe, expanding into new territories, growing its core UK Holiday Cottages business by more than 10% on the previous year and acquiring the £40 million high profile brand, Hoseasons.

10. International Personal Finance, Leeds
A plc that provides small sum, short-term, unsecured loans with terms ranging from six to 24 months. The company focuses on a mix of emerging markets, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Mexico and Romania, to spread risk, but also maintain future growth. In July it reported a 14% rise in revenue to £302.7 million from £265 million in 2009 and a 235% increase in pre-tax profit to £30.5 million.

All 10 finalists will be interviewed before an independent, expert judging panel and the winner revealed at the ceremony in November. You can follow the awards and the lead up on Twitter: @businessawards.

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