The Sunday Times reveals Britain’s 100 fastest-growing private companies

• AYBL GROUP TOPS THE LIST OF THE UK’S FAST-GROWING PRIVATE COMPANIES
• TOP 100 HAVE INCREASED SALES BY 91 PER CENT A YEAR
• OVER 13,000 NEW JOBS CREATED BY THE TOP 100 IN THE LAST THREE YEARS

The Sunday Times 100 sponsored by Barclays Private Bank and DHL Express.

AYBL Group, a sportswear and fashion brand, is Britain’s fastest-growing private company, according to the inaugural Sunday Times 100 rankings, published today online at sundaytimes.co.uk/100 and available as a supplement with the print edition of the newspaper this Sunday, 3rd July. The new annual rankings identifies and celebrates Britain’s 100 leading entrepreneurial businesses, and showcases the people behind the UK’s most dynamic private companies. 

Founded in 2018 by young entrepreneurs and brothers Reiss and Kristian Edgerton, AYBL Group is a Redditch-based fashion label designing shorts, crop tops, sports bras and other gymwear in neutral colours and simple designs. In the last year the group has made £23.5 million in sales, a staggering 359% a year increase since its founding year.

Last year the brothers secured significant investment, in a deal that valued the business at £50 million, from their school-friend and co-founder of activewear brand GymShark Lewis Morgan. The company employs 50 staff and is looking to hire more.

Britain’s top 20 fastest-growing companies

The research for the Sunday Times 100 found on average the top 100 fastest-growing companies have increased their sales by 91 per cent a year over the last three years to a combined £4.7 billion in sales.

Over 13,000 new jobs have been created by the top 10o fastest-growing companies in the last three years, with each business creating an average of 130 new roles. In total these companies employ 20,746 people.

Out of the 100 companies featured in the ranking only approximately a third (36) are based in London, with the rest spread through-out the country. This includes 16 in the north west of England, 10 in the south east, and another 10 in the Midlands.

23 of the businesses have female founders or co-founders, this includes Britain’s second fastest-growing company Screen with Envy. Started in 2016 by Sophie Birkert, while pregnant with her third child, the business specialises in designing and manufacturing garden and home privacy screens. The company has boomed during the pandemic, making sales of £14.5 million last year, a staggering 263% a year increase since its founding year.

The top 100 fastest-growing companies have had a total equity investment of an astounding £587 million in 142 rounds since 2010, and £201 million investment in 22 rounds in 2021.

Ben Francis, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Gymshark, who writes this weekend of his positive experience of achieving the top spot on previous rankings, said: “One of our milestones was topping the ranking in 2016 so huge congratulations to all those on this year’s Sunday Times 100. I can’t wait to see what they all do next.”

Jim Armitage, Business Editor of The Sunday Times said; “The Sunday Times 100 is our new-look annual celebration of the UK’s entrepreneurial achievements. The founders of these exciting businesses are vital job creators and innovators. The top 100 have performed exceptionally during the pandemic and show how some companies used the change to consumer and work habits to their advantage.”

The research for the Sunday Times 100 was done in partnership with Beauhurst. As well as a dedicated online hub and print supplements, The Sunday Times 100 will also host a series of exclusive networking events for participants.

The Sunday Times 100 forms part of The Times Enterprise Network, a cross-platform network staffed by reporters from The Times and The Sunday Times, which was launched last year to help provide advice, inspire and inform established business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs.