2010 Tech Track 100

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TECH TRACK 100 NO1 COMPANIES OF THE PAST DECADEYear 2010 Company Activity Comment2010 1 PKR Poker website operator Adding 100,000 players a month2009 4 The Hut Group E-commerce website operator Raised £14m of mezzanine funding2008 63 Mobile Interactive Group Mobile services provider Expanded into America and Australia2007 Holiday Rooms Direct Online hotel agency Was forced to restructure2006 54 Gamesys Gaming website operator Profits exceeded £16m in 20092005 Daisy Group Telecoms service provider Reversed into Freedom4 in 20092004 59 Cambridge Broadband Wireless technology developer Raised £45m from private equity2003 Optos Retinal scanning developer Floated in 2006 and now worth £56m2002 IXEurope Data centre provider Sold to Equinix in 2007 for £250m2001 RAW Communications Video streaming provider Sold to Thomson Financial in 2004

It is 10 years since the first SundayTimes Tech Track 100 revealedBritain’s fastest-growingprivate tech-nology, telecoms and digital mediacompanies. Since then, successive

annual league tables have uncovered sev-eral firms that have gone on to becomewell-known brands and stock-marketstars. The tables have also chartedchanging trends in the knowledgeeconomy as broadband and 3G transformtheway companies operate and consumersspend their time andmoney.The financial website Moneysuper-

market.com, semiconductor businessWolfson Microelectronics and onlinegrocer Ocado are among 23 firms that havefloated since appearing in the Tech Track100. A further 139 have released wealth fortheir founders and backers through tradesales. For example, the online map pro-vider Multimap was acquired by Microsoftfor £24m in 2007; the anti-virus softwaregroup MessageLabs was snapped up bySymantec for £400m the following year;and the fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.com

was acquired by the Swiss luxury-goodscompany Richemont for £350m in April.Over the years, several sectors have

stepped into the limelight thanks to tech-nological breakthroughs and markettrends. The inaugural TechTrack 100, origi-nally slated for 2000, was postponed for 12months after the dotcom bubble burst,wiping out thousands of start-ups. But inthe following year, dotcoms were eclipsedby telecoms companies, thanks to theeffects of deregulation in the 1990s. Sincethen, the emergence of internet shopping,online gaming, price-comparison websitesand, this year, cloud computing, have allbeen reflected in the rankings.Many of these companies have become

household names. Bet365, at No31 in theleague table, is appearing for the fourthtime, as is the DVD rental service Lovefilm(No51). Charity fundraising website JustGiving (No82) is listed for the second yearrunning, while the price comparison web-site Cheapflights Media (No100) is listedfor a record seventh consecutive year.Many more on the tenth anniversary

rankings are emerging brands that aretransformingour everyday consumer expe-rience. Shazam (No 36) allows people toidentify tunes by using theirmobile phoneto capture the sound. The business is alsodriving traffic to online music stores, suchas iTunes and Amazon, where it claims 8%of users go to download the song that hasbeen identified.Meanwhile, Skyscanner.net (No21), one

of several price-comparison websites inthis year’s league table, is helping cost-con-scious holidaymakers find flights, hotelsand car hire. Opta Sports Data (No85) col-lates and distributes results and other sta-tistics from 30 sports in 70 countries formedia outlets, including theBBCandNewsInternational, owner of The Sunday Times.Entrepreneurs at the helm of this year’s

Tech Track 100 companies are creatinggreater wealth and more jobs in the know-ledge economy than at almost any othertime in the past decade. Their success is atestament, perhaps, to Britain’s world-leading technology and design skills.Together, the 100 companies have com-bined sales of £2.8 billion, against £429m in2001, although the league table criteria

have changed slightly.Asmany larger busi-nesses continue to shed jobs, the 2010league table firms have added 10,564 in thepast three years— some the result of acqui-sitions — bringing their combined work-force to 17,265 staff, compared with 5,270ten years ago.Tech Track 100 firms are not required to

be in profit as many are backed by venturecapital and business angels, but a full four-fifths of this year’s ventures have reportedpre-tax profits in their latest accounts. Ofthe 10 most profitable firms, three are inthe online gaming sector, includingBet365, which recorded the largest profits,at £101m. Thehealthcare software businessDatix (No86) had the biggest profit mar-gins, at 54%.This year’s No 1 company, PKR, is

another web-based betting business,reflecting consumers’ growing appetite forhome entertainment. The company,which operates a 3D poker table allowingplayers to create their own avatars, waslaunched six years ago by Jez San,who alsofounded the games developer Argonaut atthe age of 16. Some 100,000 people amonth

in Europe, Canada and Australia are said tobe signing up to the site, powering salesgrowth of 356%a year from£347,000 in 2006to £33m in 2009, with good profits.But perhaps the most notable trend to

emerge this year is a sharp rise in thenumber of companies that provide out-sourced computer services, including

cloud computing and managed hosting.Sixteen firms cite this as their mainactivity, with a further five offering italongside their main products and serv-ices. After businesses slashed their ITbudgets during the downturn, many arenow opting to outsource server capacityand share IT infrastructure. For example,

DediPower (No 41) provides Virgin andSony with hosting services, while 850firms have turned to Adapt (No42) for com-puter services. Microsoft’s Scott Doddsassesses the rise of cloud computing onpage 3. Internet and network service pro-viders account for a further 15 firms.A broad category of digital media and

entertainment companies — includingonline gaming firms — have also per-formed strongly this year, with 14 slots onthe league table. For example, Monu-mental Games (No6) develops games thatcanbeplayedonlineby thousandsof partic-ipants at the same time. BDO’s Julian Frostlooks at how technology is shaping con-sumer behaviour on page 6.Venture-capital, business-angel or pri-

vate-equity investors have backed 37 of thisyear’s companies. Encouragingly, six firmsraised funding in the 12 months to July,double the number that secured backingin last year’s table. These include Cybit(No94), a GPS tracking business that wastaken private by the American privateequity house Francisco Partners in Jan-uary.Onpage 4, SeanDuffy of BarclaysCor-porate evaluates the prospects of bankfunding for high-growth firms.Over the past decade, the Tech Track 100

has showcased the strength and depth ofBritain’s knowledge economy. The qualityof this year’s fast-growing technology,telecoms and media firms bodes well forBritain’s future.

Britain’s fastest growing private technology companies

TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

In association with

The Tech Track 100 league table andnetworking events programme isproduced by Fast Track, the leadingnetworking company that focusesonBritain’s top-performing privatecompanies and entrepreneurs.Fast Track researches and

publishes seven different annualleague tableswith The SundayTimes, ranking the fastest-growingto the biggest private companies,and runs invitation-only dinnersfor entrepreneurs to network andmeet our sponsors.

TECHTRACKSeptember 19, 2010

Researched and compiled by

Cloud computingand homeentertainment aretwo of the mostprominent sectorsin this year’stenth anniversaryleague table, saysCatherine Wheatley

FAST TRACK

Rank

THERULESOFENGAGEMENTTHE 10th annual Tech Track 100 leaguetable ranks Britain’s fastest-growingprivate technology, telecoms and digitalmedia companies by their average salesgrowth over their latest three years,depending on available accounts.Criteria:The Tech Track 100 adopts theLondonStock Exchange’s Techmarkdefinition of a technology companywherecompaniesmust show a commitment toinnovation, research and productdevelopment, and operate in one of anumber of sectors including software,telecoms and biotechnology. Companies

had to be registered in the UK and beindependent, unquoted and ultimateholding companies. Companies that arelisted on a stock exchange do not qualify,although listings on Plus are allowed.Sales growthwasmeasured by

compound annual growth rate (CAGR)over the latest three financial years.For example, companieswhose latestavailable accounts had a 2010 year-endhad their sales growthmeasured from2007 to 2010. Of the 100 companies in thisyear’s league table, 77 had financial yearsending in 2009 and 33 had financial yearsending in 2010.Annualised sales had to exceed

£250,000 in the base year (2006 or 2007)and not show a drop from the penultimate

to the latest year, where total sales had toexceed £5m. Companies were notrequired to be in profit, asmany arebacked by venture capital. Tradingweeksin the base and latest years had to numbermore than 25weeks. For financial yearslasting less ormore than 52 tradingweeks, figureswere annualised on asimple pro-rata basis.Data-collectionmethods:Companieswere selected from a database of 2mprivateUK companies andwere identifiedin several ways. Sources used includedBureau vanDijk’s Fame, CompaniesHouse and Experian’s CorporateResearcher. Some companies nominatedthemselves orwere nominated byventure-capital houses and advisers,

otherswere identified through trade press,media coverage andweb research.Wherecompanieswerewilling to provide them,Fast Track also reviewed draft accounts,management account extracts, pro formaaccounts, and accounts filed in overseasterritories. Most of the companies in theleague table were interviewed by phoneand themajority were visited by the FastTrack team for further research. Theleague table is based on historical data,with latest available figures ranging fromMarch 2009 toMarch 2010. It is notnecessarily an indicator of present orfuture performance, and the sponsors andcompilers do not endorse the companies.Corporate structure:Companies had to beindependent and not subsidiaries. Firms

qualified if they had grown by acquisition,butwere disqualified if they had quotedsubsidiaries. Companies did not qualifyif growthwas a result of changes inaccountingmethods that led to theirfigures being restated. Informal groupsof companies that do not submit groupaudited accounts to Companies Housewere excluded.Exclusions:Excluded companies includepure computer resellers, those underinvestigation or those that had outstandingcourt judgments ofmore than £10,000against them.Incomplete information:About 2mcompanies file accounts at CompaniesHouse, butmost file abbreviated accountsthat do not report sales, includingmany

young technology companies. For thisreason, the Tech Track 100 teammayhave been unable to obtain sales figuresformany companies, andwould thereforewelcome nominations from companies fornext year’s league table.Some exceptionsweremade to the

qualification criteria set out above. Thecompiler’s decision is final and nocorrespondencewill be entered into.

1 PKR Poker website operator Alderney Dec 09 356.44% 33,031 347 Yes 98 2004 Founder was first person to receive OBE for services to computer gaming industry 3

2 Mimecast Email management services provider Central London Mar 10 173.14% 13,334 654 No 158 2003 Has offices in South Africa, Dubai and America 3

3 Quickstart Global IT services provider Central London Dec 09 167.89% †7,369 383 No 657 2006 One of the founders set up and sold four other technology companies 3

4 1 The Hut Group E-commerce website operator Cheshire Dec 09 161.92% †53,604 2,983 Yes 220 2004 Raised £14m from investors earlier this year 3

5 Adconion Internet advertising publisher Central London Dec 09 149.65% †90,561 5,821 No 266 2005 Founder established an American technology company that was bought by Vivendi 3

6 Monumental Games Computer games developer Nottingham Dec 09 146.31% 5,165 *346 No 97 2005 Develops the MotoGP motorcycle racing game 3

7 Shebang Point-of-sale software developer Daventry Dec 09 136.58% †59,989 4,530 Yes 244 2000 Recently won a deal to supply Asda’s mobile-phone outlets 3

8 12 Forward Internet Group Online marketer Central London Dec 09 120.04% *50,808 4,769 Yes 46 2004 Company generates 25% of its revenue in America 3

9 GPEG LCD display developer South London Feb 10 119.92% †6,289 591 Yes 11 2005 Its waterproof electronic displays can be found in the bathrooms of luxury hotels 3

10 Sciemus Risk-analysis software developer Central London Mar 09 118.46% 6,032 579 Yes 9 2002 Its technology helps house insurers calculate the risk of flooding and high winds 3

11 Datanomic Data management software developer Cambridge Dec 09 114.59% 5,178 524 Yes 42 2001 Says it won 40 of its 160 customers in the past 12 months 4

12 6 Moneybookers Online payment provider Central London Dec 09 108.18% 43,021 4,768 Yes 317 2001 Its technology can process payments in 40 different currencies 4

13 Comtact Managed services provider Central London Dec 09 105.78% †5,120 *588 Yes 35 2005 Founder remortgaged his flat and sold his car to raise funds to start the business 4

14 Media Ingenuity Online lead generator Central London Dec 09 99.92% †6,571 822 Yes 26 2006 Plans to launch a range of financial products under its Fluid.co.uk brand 4

15 365 iTechnology IT services provider Basingstoke Dec 09 96.22% 7,979 1,056 No 53 2002 Has made four acquisitions since 2007 4

16 13 Fourth Hospitality Hospitality software provider Central London Aug 09 96.09% 8,438 1,119 Yes 118 1999 Acquired recipe and menu management software company Star Logic this year 4

17 24 Endava IT services provider Central London Jun 09 95.29% 20,433 *2,743 Yes 520 2000 Says its customers include five of the world’s ten largest banks 4

18 Kaspersky Lab Anti-virus software developer Oxfordshire Dec 09 93.39% 210,466 29,097 Yes 1,216 1997 Sponsored the Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition that ended in January 4

19 Reach-Data SMS services provider North London Dec 09 89.14% 9,932 1,468 Yes 6 2002 Claims it partners with most of the leading British mobile-phone operators 4

20 Content and Code Software consultancy Central London Dec 09 88.97% 6,433 953 Yes 82 2001 Says it gained nearly a third of its 300-strong customer base in the past year 4

21 Skyscanner.net Cheap flights search engine Edinburgh May 10 86.61% †8,806 1,355 Yes 77 2001 Claims 10m people visit its website every month 4

22 Perform Sports media provider South London Dec 09 85.63% †48,354 7,560 Yes 317 2000 Claims it broadcasts more than 17,000 live sporting events online each year 4

23 Prism Power Power systems maker Watford Dec 09 85.34% †16,031 *2,518 Yes 42 2005 Chairman Keith Hall spent 26 years building switchgear before founding the firm 4

24 14 Greenlight Digital marketing agency Central London Aug 09 79.77% 15,702 2,703 Yes 64 2001 Claims to have more than 100 blue-chip clients in Britain, including Interflora 4

25 Wireless Logic Connectivity platform developer Marlow Apr 10 77.61% †8,162 1,457 Yes 16 1999 Says it opens 200 new customer accounts a month 4

26 Comet Solutions IT consultancy Bristol Mar 10 71.56% †6,810 1,349 Yes 20 2006 Its software is used by BSkyB and Vodafone to improve their customer service 4

27 Clintec International Clinical researcher Glasgow Dec 09 70.14% 11,379 2,310 Yes 119 1997 Has offices in 40 countries, including in India, Dubai and Poland 4

28 Qicomm Telecom services provider Middlesex Sep 09 63.65% 69,075 *15,760 Yes 56 2005 Operates in Britain, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 4

29 TouchLocal Online marketer Central London Dec 09 62.59% †9,727 2,263 No 135 1994 Claims 4m people visit its website every month 4

30 Traffic Junction Online and affiliate marketer Hertfordshire Mar 09 62.49% 10,218 2,382 Yes 40 2001 Has benefited from growth in the use of search engines such as Google 4

31 35 Bet365 Online bookmaker Stoke-on-Trent Mar 10 62.20% †417,678 97,874 Yes 1,836 1974 Company’s website is available in 17 languages, including Hungarian and Slovakian 4

32 Academia Software integrator Enfield Jun 09 61.76% 5,444 1,286 Yes 21 2003 Claims it supplies software to students at up to an 80% discount 5

33 4 Mobica Mobile phone application designer Cheshire Dec 09 61.06% 6,709 1,606 Yes 165 2004 Plans to expand into America in the near future 5

34 The Foundry Visual-effects software developer Central London Dec 09 60.81% 6,808 *1,637 Yes 54 1996 Software was used to create digital-effect sequences on Avatar 5

35 Jellyfish Paid search agency Reigate Dec 09 60.60% 16,917 4,084 Yes 55 1999 Recently won a contract with Skype 5

36 Shazam Music recognition services provider Central London Jun 09 60.37% 7,336 *1,779 No 53 2000 Funded by the early backers of Amazon and Google 5

37 94 Epsilon Telecom services provider Central London Dec 09 59.83% *11,097 2,718 Yes 40 2003 Claims that more than 24 languages are spoken by its employees 5

38 Innocore Gaming Computer hardware developer Newcastle on Tyne Dec 09 59.52% 5,318 *1,310 Yes 16 2006 Develops hardware and software for slot machines in Las Vegas casinos 5

39 54 ROC SAP-based software developer Weybridge Sep 09 58.10% 13,403 3,392 No 103 1998 Has subsidiaries on the Continent and in America 5

40 Celerity IT services provider Lancashire Dec 09 57.90% 25,054 6,364 Yes 22 2002 Completed a £2m contract with a central government department this year 5

41 DediPower Managed hosting provider Reading Sep 09 57.73% †5,487 1,398 Yes 44 1998 Clients include Virgin, Sony and ITV 5

42 31 Adapt Managed services provider Central London Jun 09 57.55% 31,008 7,929 Yes 86 2001 Claims it helps its clients make IT cost savings of more than 25% 5

43 SSL Electronics and software developer Bristol Mar 10 57.32% †20,404 5,240 Yes 130 1979 Recently won a contract with TFL to implement a digital CCTV system 5

44 S3 Interactive Technology repairer Glasgow Mar 09 56.81% 8,271 2,145 Yes 55 2003 Claims it repairs and resells more than 50,000 mobile phones a month 5

45 Node4 Communications services provider Derby Mar 10 56.50% †7,251 1,892 Yes 31 2004 Is currently constructing a 42,000 sq ft data centre 5

46 3 Wewillbuyyourcar.com Online car dealer Yorkshire Mar 10 56.21% 21,491 5,638 Yes 9 2005 Says it buys 25 used cars a day for an average price of £7,500 5

47 Iris Software Business software developer Berkshire Apr 09 54.94% 119,204 32,051 No 1,330 1978 Claims that its software generates 2m pay slips a year for Britain’s workers 5

48 The Bunker Managed services provider Kent Dec 09 53.50% 5,243 1,449 Yes 54 2004 Its three data centres are housed in old military bunkers 5

49 38 UKFast Internet hosting provider Manchester Dec 09 53.10% †9,099 2,536 Yes 110 1999 Is due to launch a hosting service called UKFast Blue later this year 6

50 36 ControlCircle IT services provider Central London Sep 09 52.53% 9,115 2,568 Yes 63 2001 Secured £6m growth capital from Scottish Equity Partners in February 6

51 9 Lovefilm.com Online DVD rental provider West London Dec 09 52.11% †97,170 *27,612 No 427 2002 Claims to be the third-largest subscription entertainment business in Britain 6

52 26 Neoss Dental implants developer Harrogate Nov 09 51.33% 14,552 4,199 No 108 2000 Its dental implant system uses less than 100 components while others use 2,000 6

53 Kelway IT services provider Central London Mar 10 50.59% †178,091 52,152 Yes 350 1990 Chief executive Phil Doye founded the company at the age of 21 6

54 32 Gamesys Gaming website operator Central London Mar 09 50.54% 58,998 17,294 Yes 251 2001 Launched Caesarsbingo.co.uk and Heartgames.co.uk this year 6

55 Micro Nav Simulation systems provider Bournemouth Dec 09 50.39% †5,777 1,698 Yes 46 1988 Founders are qualified air-traffic controllers and pilots 6

56 39 Intelliflo Financial software developer Kingston Dec 09 50.16% 5,928 1,751 Yes 57 2004 Says it has a total customer base of 6,500 users from 850 firms 6

57 Valueworks E-commerce software developer Wigan Dec 09 49.87% †5,972 1,774 Yes 76 2000 Claims it delivers total savings for its clients of more than £200m a year 6

58 23 Timico Converged communications provider Nottinghamshire Dec 09 49.01% 21,904 6,621 Yes 133 2004 Clients include BP, Honda and the Stroke Association 6

59 21 Cambridge Broadband Networks Wireless technology developer Cambridge Dec 09 48.95% †22,007 6,659 No 60 2000 Has raised £45m from investors to date 6

60 86 Orange Information Systems IT consultancy Central London Mar 10 48.18% †15,521 4,771 Yes 48 2004 Has launched a division that focuses on consultancy services for its blue-chip clients 6

61 62 Probrand IT reseller Birmingham Dec 09 45.87% 57,595 18,557 Yes 69 1992 Launched a security division to help public-sector clients avoid fines for loss of data 6

62 Hostelbookers.com Online accommodation booking agency London Dec 09 45.76% 8,268 2,670 Yes 77 2003 Travellers in Stockholm can use its website to book a stay in a Boeing 747 cockpit 6

63 Essence Digital marketing agency Central London Mar 10 45.74% †18,445 5,959 Yes 51 2005 Clients include Google, Cancer Research and eBay 6

64 Mobile Interactive Group Mobile phone services provider Central London Apr 09 45.69% 67,952 21,972 Yes 92 2004 Claims to have built the first iPad app for The Sun newspaper 6

65 75 Acturis Software services provider Central London Sep 09 45.21% 14,083 4,600 Yes 110 2000 Currently looking to expand into mainland Europe 6

66 Activinstinct Affiliate marketer Northwest London Aug 09 44.48% 5,447 1,806 Yes 36 1987 Has diversified from selling cricket bats and exercise bikes to web marketing 6

67 76 Xbridge Online insurance broker Central London Dec 09 44.10% 12,493 4,175 No 135 2000 The company’s chief executive was previously managing director of Match.com 6

68 Nexus Oncology Clinical researcher Edinburgh Apr 09 43.71% 7,165 2,414 No 96 1999 Looking to expand into Russia and Spain 6

69 Technophobia Web application software developer Sheffield Dec 09 43.36% 5,091 1,728 Yes 71 1994 Currently planning to open an office in London 7

70 47 King.com Gaming website operator Central London Dec 09 43.09% 38,154 13,022 Yes 85 2003 Claims its gaming websites are available in ten languages and six currencies 7

71 58 Exponential-e Network services provider Central London Jan 10 42.96% 19,952 6,828 Yes 105 2002 Clients include Sony BMG and Bet365 7

72 96 Adeptra Managed services provider Reading Dec 09 42.91% 20,546 7,040 Yes 116 1996 Recently expanded into mainland Europe and Asia 7

73 Defaqto Media Financial software developer North London Mar 09 42.15% 8,298 *2,889 No 117 2006 Claims to have 30,000 financial products on its database 7

74 Elite Telecom Telecom services provider Lancashire Jul 09 42.07% 14,612 5,095 Yes 167 2000 Uses its own video conferencing services to minimise travel to meetings 7

75 59 Focus 4 U Telecom services provider Hove May 10 42.05% †8,900 3,105 Yes 33 2003 Is telecoms partner for Twenty20 champions, Sussex County Cricket Club 7

76 70 Griffin Internet Internet service provider Derby Dec 09 42.03% 16,910 5,902 Yes 71 1993 Recently launched a series of cloud computing, hosting and virtualisation services 7

77 98 ITRS Group Financial software developer Central London Mar 10 41.78% †17,093 5,998 Yes 70 1997 Claims that many of the world’s leading financial institutions use its software 7

78 19 Tomorrow Communications IT network provider Central London Jul 09 41.60% 8,850 3,117 Yes 69 2003 Company’s three directors met while working at an IT services company 7

79 84 Listening Company Call-centre software provider West London Oct 09 41.46% 73,659 26,020 Yes 2,621 1998 Planning to double in size over the next three years 7

80 Redweb Digital agency Dorset Dec 09 41.33% 5,070 1,796 Yes 96 1997 Customers include the Electoral Commission, HM Treasury and Eon 7

81 72 Thomsons Online Benefits Employee benefits software developer Central London Dec 09 40.75% †16,319 5,852 Yes 132 2000 Recently won a large contract with Glaxo Smith Kline 7

82 34 JustGiving Fundraising website Central London Dec 09 40.70% †11,116 3,991 Yes 66 2001 Sir Steve Redgrave has raised £1.8m for his charity through its website 7

83 87 OB10 E-invoicing system provider Central London Apr 10 40.66% †13,104 4,709 No 178 2000 Says it signed up 14 new global customers in 2009 7

84 65 Worldwide Group Telecom services provider Peterborough Dec 09 40.48% †27,720 9,999 Yes 55 2001 Claims to route more than 100m minutes of calls every month 7

85 Opta Sports Data Sports information provider Central London Jun 09 40.45% 6,497 2,345 No 116 1996 Its database helps football clubs to identify and recruit new players 7

86 Datix Healthcare software developer Southwest London Apr 10 39.95% †8,105 2,957 Yes 36 1986 Says that more than 60m patients are protected by its healthcare software 7

87 67 Bluesource IT consultancy Central London Sep 09 39.38% †6,820 2,519 Yes 70 2000 Conducted an upgrade of the Conservative party’s email system to improve security 7

88 88 Rule Financial Business and IT consultancy Central London Dec 09 38.91% 27,340 10,200 Yes 209 1997 Has offices in Barcelona, New York and Lodz in Poland 7

89 61 Entanet International Communications provider Telford Nov 09 37.97% 27,215 10,362 Yes 75 1996 Company operates from a Chinese style purpose-built pagoda 7

90 Neural Technologies AI software developer Hampshire Mar 10 37.71% †10,832 4,148 Yes 95 1990 Has offices in America, Brazil, Chile, Malaysia and Hong Kong 8

91 10 The Cloud Wireless broadband service provider St Albans Dec 09 37.51% 17,575 6,759 No 59 2003 Provides wireless broadband wifi services to 12 European countries 8

92 60 Toptable.com Restaurant reservation website Central London Jun 09 36.30% 6,631 2,619 Yes 62 1999 Claims its website contains details of 5,000 eateries worldwide 8

93 2bm Data centre designer Nottingham Jan 10 35.76% †7,975 3,187 Yes 18 2002 Sponsors European Tour golfer Graeme Storm 8

94 Cybit Telematics software developer Cambridgeshire Mar 09 35.73% 25,482 10,190 Yes 136 2001 Delisted from the LSE with backing from Francisco Partners in January 8

95 Solarcentury Solar technology developer Central London Mar 10 35.55% 34,518 13,858 No 113 1999 Claims to have created the first British street powered entirely by solar panels 8

96 28 Neverfail Group Business software developer Berkshire Mar 10 35.40% †11,921 4,802 No 140 1993 Says that 3,000 companies worldwide use its software 8

97 48 Excelian IT consultancy Central London Dec 09 35.20% †13,318 5,389 Yes 202 2001 Almost 50% of the company’s sales are generated overseas 8

98 49 Thunderhead Communications software developer Hertfordshire Dec 09 35.07% 18,289 7,422 Yes 98 2001 Has nine offices worldwide, including in Sydney, New York and California 8

99 82 MeetingZone Conference call services provider Oxfordshire Mar 10 34.78% †9,872 4,032 Yes 65 2001 Its technology allows people to share their computer screens with up to 200 others 8

100 64 Cheapflights Media Price comparison website Central London Dec 09 34.73% †30,161 12,332 Yes 105 1996 Features in this table for a record seventh consecutive year 8

2 TECHTRACK100

Rank 2010

Rank 2009

Activity

Location of HQ

Financial year end

% annual sales growth

2009-10 sales, £000s

2006-7 sales, £000s

StaffIn profit 2009-10

?

Founded

Comment

PageName

www.famecompanyinfo.com

The 100 fastest-growingtechnology companies

† Draft, audit exempt or not filed at Companies House * Annualised figure

THERULESOFENGAGEMENTTHE 10th annual Tech Track 100 leaguetable ranks Britain’s fastest-growingprivate technology, telecoms and digitalmedia companies by their average salesgrowth over their latest three years,depending on available accounts.Criteria:The Tech Track 100 adopts theLondonStock Exchange’s Techmarkdefinition of a technology companywherecompaniesmust show a commitment toinnovation, research and productdevelopment, and operate in one of anumber of sectors including software,telecoms and biotechnology. Companies

had to be registered in the UK and beindependent, unquoted and ultimateholding companies. Companies that arelisted on a stock exchange do not qualify,although listings on Plus are allowed.Sales growthwasmeasured by

compound annual growth rate (CAGR)over the latest three financial years.For example, companieswhose latestavailable accounts had a 2010 year-endhad their sales growthmeasured from2007 to 2010. Of the 100 companies in thisyear’s league table, 77 had financial yearsending in 2009 and 33 had financial yearsending in 2010.Annualised sales had to exceed

£250,000 in the base year (2006 or 2007)and not show a drop from the penultimate

to the latest year, where total sales had toexceed £5m. Companies were notrequired to be in profit, asmany arebacked by venture capital. Tradingweeksin the base and latest years had to numbermore than 25weeks. For financial yearslasting less ormore than 52 tradingweeks, figureswere annualised on asimple pro-rata basis.Data-collectionmethods:Companieswere selected from a database of 2mprivateUK companies andwere identifiedin several ways. Sources used includedBureau vanDijk’s Fame, CompaniesHouse and Experian’s CorporateResearcher. Some companies nominatedthemselves orwere nominated byventure-capital houses and advisers,

otherswere identified through trade press,media coverage andweb research.Wherecompanieswerewilling to provide them,Fast Track also reviewed draft accounts,management account extracts, pro formaaccounts, and accounts filed in overseasterritories. Most of the companies in theleague table were interviewed by phoneand themajority were visited by the FastTrack team for further research. Theleague table is based on historical data,with latest available figures ranging fromMarch 2009 toMarch 2010. It is notnecessarily an indicator of present orfuture performance, and the sponsors andcompilers do not endorse the companies.Corporate structure:Companies had to beindependent and not subsidiaries. Firms

qualified if they had grown by acquisition,butwere disqualified if they had quotedsubsidiaries. Companies did not qualifyif growthwas a result of changes inaccountingmethods that led to theirfigures being restated. Informal groupsof companies that do not submit groupaudited accounts to Companies Housewere excluded.Exclusions:Excluded companies includepure computer resellers, those underinvestigation or those that had outstandingcourt judgments ofmore than £10,000against them.Incomplete information:About 2mcompanies file accounts at CompaniesHouse, butmost file abbreviated accountsthat do not report sales, includingmany

young technology companies. For thisreason, the Tech Track 100 teammayhave been unable to obtain sales figuresformany companies, andwould thereforewelcome nominations from companies fornext year’s league table.Some exceptionsweremade to the

qualification criteria set out above. Thecompiler’s decision is final and nocorrespondencewill be entered into.

1 PKR Poker website operator Alderney Dec 09 356.44% 33,031 347 Yes 98 2004 Founder was first person to receive OBE for services to computer gaming industry 3

2 Mimecast Email management services provider Central London Mar 10 173.14% 13,334 654 No 158 2003 Has offices in South Africa, Dubai and America 3

3 Quickstart Global IT services provider Central London Dec 09 167.89% †7,369 383 No 657 2006 One of the founders set up and sold four other technology companies 3

4 1 The Hut Group E-commerce website operator Cheshire Dec 09 161.92% †53,604 2,983 Yes 220 2004 Raised £14m from investors earlier this year 3

5 Adconion Internet advertising publisher Central London Dec 09 149.65% †90,561 5,821 No 266 2005 Founder established an American technology company that was bought by Vivendi 3

6 Monumental Games Computer games developer Nottingham Dec 09 146.31% 5,165 *346 No 97 2005 Develops the MotoGP motorcycle racing game 3

7 Shebang Point-of-sale software developer Daventry Dec 09 136.58% †59,989 4,530 Yes 244 2000 Recently won a deal to supply Asda’s mobile-phone outlets 3

8 12 Forward Internet Group Online marketer Central London Dec 09 120.04% *50,808 4,769 Yes 46 2004 Company generates 25% of its revenue in America 3

9 GPEG LCD display developer South London Feb 10 119.92% †6,289 591 Yes 11 2005 Its waterproof electronic displays can be found in the bathrooms of luxury hotels 3

10 Sciemus Risk-analysis software developer Central London Mar 09 118.46% 6,032 579 Yes 9 2002 Its technology helps house insurers calculate the risk of flooding and high winds 3

11 Datanomic Data management software developer Cambridge Dec 09 114.59% 5,178 524 Yes 42 2001 Says it won 40 of its 160 customers in the past 12 months 4

12 6 Moneybookers Online payment provider Central London Dec 09 108.18% 43,021 4,768 Yes 317 2001 Its technology can process payments in 40 different currencies 4

13 Comtact Managed services provider Central London Dec 09 105.78% †5,120 *588 Yes 35 2005 Founder remortgaged his flat and sold his car to raise funds to start the business 4

14 Media Ingenuity Online lead generator Central London Dec 09 99.92% †6,571 822 Yes 26 2006 Plans to launch a range of financial products under its Fluid.co.uk brand 4

15 365 iTechnology IT services provider Basingstoke Dec 09 96.22% 7,979 1,056 No 53 2002 Has made four acquisitions since 2007 4

16 13 Fourth Hospitality Hospitality software provider Central London Aug 09 96.09% 8,438 1,119 Yes 118 1999 Acquired recipe and menu management software company Star Logic this year 4

17 24 Endava IT services provider Central London Jun 09 95.29% 20,433 *2,743 Yes 520 2000 Says its customers include five of the world’s ten largest banks 4

18 Kaspersky Lab Anti-virus software developer Oxfordshire Dec 09 93.39% 210,466 29,097 Yes 1,216 1997 Sponsored the Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition that ended in January 4

19 Reach-Data SMS services provider North London Dec 09 89.14% 9,932 1,468 Yes 6 2002 Claims it partners with most of the leading British mobile-phone operators 4

20 Content and Code Software consultancy Central London Dec 09 88.97% 6,433 953 Yes 82 2001 Says it gained nearly a third of its 300-strong customer base in the past year 4

21 Skyscanner.net Cheap flights search engine Edinburgh May 10 86.61% †8,806 1,355 Yes 77 2001 Claims 10m people visit its website every month 4

22 Perform Sports media provider South London Dec 09 85.63% †48,354 7,560 Yes 317 2000 Claims it broadcasts more than 17,000 live sporting events online each year 4

23 Prism Power Power systems maker Watford Dec 09 85.34% †16,031 *2,518 Yes 42 2005 Chairman Keith Hall spent 26 years building switchgear before founding the firm 4

24 14 Greenlight Digital marketing agency Central London Aug 09 79.77% 15,702 2,703 Yes 64 2001 Claims to have more than 100 blue-chip clients in Britain, including Interflora 4

25 Wireless Logic Connectivity platform developer Marlow Apr 10 77.61% †8,162 1,457 Yes 16 1999 Says it opens 200 new customer accounts a month 4

26 Comet Solutions IT consultancy Bristol Mar 10 71.56% †6,810 1,349 Yes 20 2006 Its software is used by BSkyB and Vodafone to improve their customer service 4

27 Clintec International Clinical researcher Glasgow Dec 09 70.14% 11,379 2,310 Yes 119 1997 Has offices in 40 countries, including in India, Dubai and Poland 4

28 Qicomm Telecom services provider Middlesex Sep 09 63.65% 69,075 *15,760 Yes 56 2005 Operates in Britain, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Sri Lanka 4

29 TouchLocal Online marketer Central London Dec 09 62.59% †9,727 2,263 No 135 1994 Claims 4m people visit its website every month 4

30 Traffic Junction Online and affiliate marketer Hertfordshire Mar 09 62.49% 10,218 2,382 Yes 40 2001 Has benefited from growth in the use of search engines such as Google 4

31 35 Bet365 Online bookmaker Stoke-on-Trent Mar 10 62.20% †417,678 97,874 Yes 1,836 1974 Company’s website is available in 17 languages, including Hungarian and Slovakian 4

32 Academia Software integrator Enfield Jun 09 61.76% 5,444 1,286 Yes 21 2003 Claims it supplies software to students at up to an 80% discount 5

33 4 Mobica Mobile phone application designer Cheshire Dec 09 61.06% 6,709 1,606 Yes 165 2004 Plans to expand into America in the near future 5

34 The Foundry Visual-effects software developer Central London Dec 09 60.81% 6,808 *1,637 Yes 54 1996 Software was used to create digital-effect sequences on Avatar 5

35 Jellyfish Paid search agency Reigate Dec 09 60.60% 16,917 4,084 Yes 55 1999 Recently won a contract with Skype 5

36 Shazam Music recognition services provider Central London Jun 09 60.37% 7,336 *1,779 No 53 2000 Funded by the early backers of Amazon and Google 5

37 94 Epsilon Telecom services provider Central London Dec 09 59.83% *11,097 2,718 Yes 40 2003 Claims that more than 24 languages are spoken by its employees 5

38 Innocore Gaming Computer hardware developer Newcastle on Tyne Dec 09 59.52% 5,318 *1,310 Yes 16 2006 Develops hardware and software for slot machines in Las Vegas casinos 5

39 54 ROC SAP-based software developer Weybridge Sep 09 58.10% 13,403 3,392 No 103 1998 Has subsidiaries on the Continent and in America 5

40 Celerity IT services provider Lancashire Dec 09 57.90% 25,054 6,364 Yes 22 2002 Completed a £2m contract with a central government department this year 5

41 DediPower Managed hosting provider Reading Sep 09 57.73% †5,487 1,398 Yes 44 1998 Clients include Virgin, Sony and ITV 5

42 31 Adapt Managed services provider Central London Jun 09 57.55% 31,008 7,929 Yes 86 2001 Claims it helps its clients make IT cost savings of more than 25% 5

43 SSL Electronics and software developer Bristol Mar 10 57.32% †20,404 5,240 Yes 130 1979 Recently won a contract with TFL to implement a digital CCTV system 5

44 S3 Interactive Technology repairer Glasgow Mar 09 56.81% 8,271 2,145 Yes 55 2003 Claims it repairs and resells more than 50,000 mobile phones a month 5

45 Node4 Communications services provider Derby Mar 10 56.50% †7,251 1,892 Yes 31 2004 Is currently constructing a 42,000 sq ft data centre 5

46 3 Wewillbuyyourcar.com Online car dealer Yorkshire Mar 10 56.21% 21,491 5,638 Yes 9 2005 Says it buys 25 used cars a day for an average price of £7,500 5

47 Iris Software Business software developer Berkshire Apr 09 54.94% 119,204 32,051 No 1,330 1978 Claims that its software generates 2m pay slips a year for Britain’s workers 5

48 The Bunker Managed services provider Kent Dec 09 53.50% 5,243 1,449 Yes 54 2004 Its three data centres are housed in old military bunkers 5

49 38 UKFast Internet hosting provider Manchester Dec 09 53.10% †9,099 2,536 Yes 110 1999 Is due to launch a hosting service called UKFast Blue later this year 6

50 36 ControlCircle IT services provider Central London Sep 09 52.53% 9,115 2,568 Yes 63 2001 Secured £6m growth capital from Scottish Equity Partners in February 6

51 9 Lovefilm.com Online DVD rental provider West London Dec 09 52.11% †97,170 *27,612 No 427 2002 Claims to be the third-largest subscription entertainment business in Britain 6

52 26 Neoss Dental implants developer Harrogate Nov 09 51.33% 14,552 4,199 No 108 2000 Its dental implant system uses less than 100 components while others use 2,000 6

53 Kelway IT services provider Central London Mar 10 50.59% †178,091 52,152 Yes 350 1990 Chief executive Phil Doye founded the company at the age of 21 6

54 32 Gamesys Gaming website operator Central London Mar 09 50.54% 58,998 17,294 Yes 251 2001 Launched Caesarsbingo.co.uk and Heartgames.co.uk this year 6

55 Micro Nav Simulation systems provider Bournemouth Dec 09 50.39% †5,777 1,698 Yes 46 1988 Founders are qualified air-traffic controllers and pilots 6

56 39 Intelliflo Financial software developer Kingston Dec 09 50.16% 5,928 1,751 Yes 57 2004 Says it has a total customer base of 6,500 users from 850 firms 6

57 Valueworks E-commerce software developer Wigan Dec 09 49.87% †5,972 1,774 Yes 76 2000 Claims it delivers total savings for its clients of more than £200m a year 6

58 23 Timico Converged communications provider Nottinghamshire Dec 09 49.01% 21,904 6,621 Yes 133 2004 Clients include BP, Honda and the Stroke Association 6

59 21 Cambridge Broadband Networks Wireless technology developer Cambridge Dec 09 48.95% †22,007 6,659 No 60 2000 Has raised £45m from investors to date 6

60 86 Orange Information Systems IT consultancy Central London Mar 10 48.18% †15,521 4,771 Yes 48 2004 Has launched a division that focuses on consultancy services for its blue-chip clients 6

61 62 Probrand IT reseller Birmingham Dec 09 45.87% 57,595 18,557 Yes 69 1992 Launched a security division to help public-sector clients avoid fines for loss of data 6

62 Hostelbookers.com Online accommodation booking agency London Dec 09 45.76% 8,268 2,670 Yes 77 2003 Travellers in Stockholm can use its website to book a stay in a Boeing 747 cockpit 6

63 Essence Digital marketing agency Central London Mar 10 45.74% †18,445 5,959 Yes 51 2005 Clients include Google, Cancer Research and eBay 6

64 Mobile Interactive Group Mobile phone services provider Central London Apr 09 45.69% 67,952 21,972 Yes 92 2004 Claims to have built the first iPad app for The Sun newspaper 6

65 75 Acturis Software services provider Central London Sep 09 45.21% 14,083 4,600 Yes 110 2000 Currently looking to expand into mainland Europe 6

66 Activinstinct Affiliate marketer Northwest London Aug 09 44.48% 5,447 1,806 Yes 36 1987 Has diversified from selling cricket bats and exercise bikes to web marketing 6

67 76 Xbridge Online insurance broker Central London Dec 09 44.10% 12,493 4,175 No 135 2000 The company’s chief executive was previously managing director of Match.com 6

68 Nexus Oncology Clinical researcher Edinburgh Apr 09 43.71% 7,165 2,414 No 96 1999 Looking to expand into Russia and Spain 6

69 Technophobia Web application software developer Sheffield Dec 09 43.36% 5,091 1,728 Yes 71 1994 Currently planning to open an office in London 7

70 47 King.com Gaming website operator Central London Dec 09 43.09% 38,154 13,022 Yes 85 2003 Claims its gaming websites are available in ten languages and six currencies 7

71 58 Exponential-e Network services provider Central London Jan 10 42.96% 19,952 6,828 Yes 105 2002 Clients include Sony BMG and Bet365 7

72 96 Adeptra Managed services provider Reading Dec 09 42.91% 20,546 7,040 Yes 116 1996 Recently expanded into mainland Europe and Asia 7

73 Defaqto Media Financial software developer North London Mar 09 42.15% 8,298 *2,889 No 117 2006 Claims to have 30,000 financial products on its database 7

74 Elite Telecom Telecom services provider Lancashire Jul 09 42.07% 14,612 5,095 Yes 167 2000 Uses its own video conferencing services to minimise travel to meetings 7

75 59 Focus 4 U Telecom services provider Hove May 10 42.05% †8,900 3,105 Yes 33 2003 Is telecoms partner for Twenty20 champions, Sussex County Cricket Club 7

76 70 Griffin Internet Internet service provider Derby Dec 09 42.03% 16,910 5,902 Yes 71 1993 Recently launched a series of cloud computing, hosting and virtualisation services 7

77 98 ITRS Group Financial software developer Central London Mar 10 41.78% †17,093 5,998 Yes 70 1997 Claims that many of the world’s leading financial institutions use its software 7

78 19 Tomorrow Communications IT network provider Central London Jul 09 41.60% 8,850 3,117 Yes 69 2003 Company’s three directors met while working at an IT services company 7

79 84 Listening Company Call-centre software provider West London Oct 09 41.46% 73,659 26,020 Yes 2,621 1998 Planning to double in size over the next three years 7

80 Redweb Digital agency Dorset Dec 09 41.33% 5,070 1,796 Yes 96 1997 Customers include the Electoral Commission, HM Treasury and Eon 7

81 72 Thomsons Online Benefits Employee benefits software developer Central London Dec 09 40.75% †16,319 5,852 Yes 132 2000 Recently won a large contract with Glaxo Smith Kline 7

82 34 JustGiving Fundraising website Central London Dec 09 40.70% †11,116 3,991 Yes 66 2001 Sir Steve Redgrave has raised £1.8m for his charity through its website 7

83 87 OB10 E-invoicing system provider Central London Apr 10 40.66% †13,104 4,709 No 178 2000 Says it signed up 14 new global customers in 2009 7

84 65 Worldwide Group Telecom services provider Peterborough Dec 09 40.48% †27,720 9,999 Yes 55 2001 Claims to route more than 100m minutes of calls every month 7

85 Opta Sports Data Sports information provider Central London Jun 09 40.45% 6,497 2,345 No 116 1996 Its database helps football clubs to identify and recruit new players 7

86 Datix Healthcare software developer Southwest London Apr 10 39.95% †8,105 2,957 Yes 36 1986 Says that more than 60m patients are protected by its healthcare software 7

87 67 Bluesource IT consultancy Central London Sep 09 39.38% †6,820 2,519 Yes 70 2000 Conducted an upgrade of the Conservative party’s email system to improve security 7

88 88 Rule Financial Business and IT consultancy Central London Dec 09 38.91% 27,340 10,200 Yes 209 1997 Has offices in Barcelona, New York and Lodz in Poland 7

89 61 Entanet International Communications provider Telford Nov 09 37.97% 27,215 10,362 Yes 75 1996 Company operates from a Chinese style purpose-built pagoda 7

90 Neural Technologies AI software developer Hampshire Mar 10 37.71% †10,832 4,148 Yes 95 1990 Has offices in America, Brazil, Chile, Malaysia and Hong Kong 8

91 10 The Cloud Wireless broadband service provider St Albans Dec 09 37.51% 17,575 6,759 No 59 2003 Provides wireless broadband wifi services to 12 European countries 8

92 60 Toptable.com Restaurant reservation website Central London Jun 09 36.30% 6,631 2,619 Yes 62 1999 Claims its website contains details of 5,000 eateries worldwide 8

93 2bm Data centre designer Nottingham Jan 10 35.76% †7,975 3,187 Yes 18 2002 Sponsors European Tour golfer Graeme Storm 8

94 Cybit Telematics software developer Cambridgeshire Mar 09 35.73% 25,482 10,190 Yes 136 2001 Delisted from the LSE with backing from Francisco Partners in January 8

95 Solarcentury Solar technology developer Central London Mar 10 35.55% 34,518 13,858 No 113 1999 Claims to have created the first British street powered entirely by solar panels 8

96 28 Neverfail Group Business software developer Berkshire Mar 10 35.40% †11,921 4,802 No 140 1993 Says that 3,000 companies worldwide use its software 8

97 48 Excelian IT consultancy Central London Dec 09 35.20% †13,318 5,389 Yes 202 2001 Almost 50% of the company’s sales are generated overseas 8

98 49 Thunderhead Communications software developer Hertfordshire Dec 09 35.07% 18,289 7,422 Yes 98 2001 Has nine offices worldwide, including in Sydney, New York and California 8

99 82 MeetingZone Conference call services provider Oxfordshire Mar 10 34.78% †9,872 4,032 Yes 65 2001 Its technology allows people to share their computer screens with up to 200 others 8

100 64 Cheapflights Media Price comparison website Central London Dec 09 34.73% †30,161 12,332 Yes 105 1996 Features in this table for a record seventh consecutive year 8

2 TECHTRACK100

Rank 2010

Rank 2009

Activity

Location of HQ

Financial year end

% annual sales growth

2009-10 sales, £000s

2006-7 sales, £000s

StaffIn profit 2009-10

?

Founded

Comment

PageName

www.famecompanyinfo.com

The 100 fastest-growingtechnology companies

† Draft, audit exempt or not filed at Companies House * Annualised figure

When the intel-lectual-prop-erty firm Rousewanted to im-provecommuni-

cation between staff at its 17international locations, itsought guidance from Contentand Code, an information tech-nology consultancy.The company, at No 20 in

this year’s Tech Track 100, sug-gested that Rouse should moveits systems to the cloud. By out-sourcing internet applicationsand server capacity to anothercompany, Rouse could getaccess topowerful business soft-ware that would boost effi-ciency and also savemoney.Over the following months,

Content and Code, a Microsoftgold partner, connected Rousetoour cloud-basedBusinessPro-ductivity Online Suite (BPOS), aset of hosted and collaborationsolutions delivered to the cus-tomer as a subscription. Thissuite of services enables organi-sations of all sizes to improvetheir business productivitywithout the need to maintaincomplex IT infrastructure oftheir own. The new arrange-ment also enables Rouse toexpand its IT systems quicklyas the business grows.Both the flexibility and the

cost savings delivered by thecloud are compelling, accord-ing to Jonathan Bruce, Rouse’sglobal head of IT. Over the first12 months, Rouse cut its IT

spending by £300,000 and afterthree years the savings reached£600,000.Microsoft believes that cloud

computing is a leap forward intechnology that offers a tremen-dous opportunity for both theIT industry and its customers.British firms are expected todouble spending on cloud serv-ices to £1.2 billion by 2012,according to the research com-pany Tech Market View. Overthe same period, the researchgroup Gartner forecasts that afifth of all the Fortune 1,000companies will have scrappedtheir own IT equipmententirely — and by 2014 thecloud computing sector will beworth several billion pounds.With our network of certi-

fied partners, Microsoft is aleader in the field and isbringing the cloud’s financialand operational benefits to theglobalmarketplace. During thisyearweexpect to invest a signif-icant part of our $9.5 billionresearch and developmentbudget in cloud services.Cloud computing is usually

taken to mean outsourcinghardware — such as serversand data storage facilities —and web applications, includ-ing email. Applications aremoved to another company,whichpipes themback into thecustomer’s offices through theinternet. Customers like Rousesubscribe to the service and payper unit instead of spending on

building andmaintaining theirown facilities.Typically, customers can use

the cloud in three ways. First,they can outsource servicescompletely. For small andmedi-um-sized enterprises, movingto the cloud can transform theway they do business becausethey gain the capacity andapplications to match muchbigger companies without alarge investment in hardware.Alternatively, they can use

the cloud to augment existingservices when additionalcapacity is required for newprojects or a sudden rise indemand. For larger companiesthat have already made sub-stantial investments in sys-tems for managing customers,

the supply chain and internalinformation, this is probablymore efficient than movingtheir entire set-up to the cloud.Finally, the cloud can help

companies such as Rouseimprove their productivity byhosting applications or sharingdata with others. Staff and cus-tomers can connect and poolinformation to improve com-munication and productivity.Content and Code is one of a

growing number of Microsoftcertified partners that areembracing the cloud and help-ing Microsoft to bring its bene-fits to companies of all sizes. Ofour 30,000 UK partners, severalthousand — including some ofthe 18 gold partners in the TechTrack 100—are already helpingclients move to the cloudthrough BPOS.Indeed, for the first time,

cloud computing and managedhosting firms feature stronglyin the Tech Track 100, account-ing for 16 places. It is inter-esting to see that a further fiveventures offer cloud servicesalongside their main products,and many more have said theywill consider expanding intothe sector.Some of our partners,

including Content and Code,are advising clients on how touse the cloud to update theirinfrastructure and maximisethe benefits of their existingsoftware. Our unique hybridmodel enables companies toblend seamlessly their in-house Microsoft products withour cloud-based services.Others are providing infra-

structure and network capacityfor hosting Share Point andExchange, for example. Adapt,a Microsoft partner at No42 inthe league table, provides net-work services and outsourcedmanaged hosting to about 850

customers, including the RACandEMI. The firm recently pro-vided another Tech Track 100company, Cheapflights Media(No100), with extra bandwidthand capacity through a securemanaged data hosting service.Today, Adapt holds the UKinfrastructure and central sys-tems for the fast-growing firm,which has helped to ease thestrain onCheapflights’ IT team.Several of our Tech Track 100

partners are using our develop-ment platforms to create new

services and applications. Forexample, Kaspersky Lab, atNo 18 in the league table,develops in-the-cloud anti-virus software that protectshosted email. It also offersother security products.Indeed, we understand why

companiesmight be concernedabout the security of datastored in the cloud. Microsoftand our certified partners suchasKaspersky use powerful anti-virus and anti-spam softwarefor cloud security, based on our

Forefront range of products, socustomers can be assured theyare protected.We also invest to ensure the

physical security of our datacentres. Another of our goldpartners, The Bunker (No48),owns data centres that arehoused in former militarybunkers. Meanwhile, Contentand Code’s customers benefitfrom Microsoft’s data centresin Dublin and the Netherlands.Microsoft is committed to

working in partnership with

innovative businesses likethose in the Tech Track 100 asthey take advantage of thehuge opportunities that cloudcomputing offers. That is whywe continue to invest in inno-vations that improve our cloudtechnology.We look forward tohelping more ambitious comp-aniesas theybroaden theirhori-zons and look to the cloud.n Scott Dodds, general manager,business strategy and marketing atMicrosoftUK, was talking to Cath-erineWheatley.

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2 TORFXForeign currency provider 217.12%

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1 PKR3D poker website operator 356.44%

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2 MIMECASTEmail services provider 173.14%

MIMECAST’s software enables itscustomers, which include Knight Frank,Eversheds and the Salvation Army, toimprove their email availability, storageand security. About 50% of the company’sturnover is generated in Britain, but italso has offices in America, Dubai andSouth Africa. In 2009 Dawn Capital andIndex Ventures invested £13m in thecompany. Chief executive Peter Bauerand chief technology officer Neil MurrayfoundedMimecast in 2003 and haveoverseen sales growth of 173% a year from£654,000 in 2007 to £13.3m in 2010, whenthe companymade a significant loss.

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3 QUICKSTART GLOBALIT services provider 167.89%

QUICKSTART GLOBAL helps companieslooking to set up offshore teams. It findsoffice space, recruits the staff and installsthe infrastructure needed to get theteams up and running in the desiredlocation. Quickstart Global is based inLondon and has 40 customers, includingHitachi and Play.com. It was founded in2006 by chairman Kaushal Chokshi andchief executive Neal Gandhi, whooversaw sales growth of 168% a yearfrom £383,000 in 2006 to £7.4m in 2009.

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4 THE HUT GROUPE-commerce operator 161.92%

THEHut Group builds, runs andmaintains e-commerce websites forthe likes of Asda, Tesco and Argos. Italso sells electrical goods, fashion and

home-entertainment products throughits ownwebsites, which includeGifted.com andMybag.co.uk. TheCheshire company bought Zavvi’s brandand online database fromVirgin in 2009,and in August this year acquired theonline retailer Iwantoneofthose.com.The company has raised £14m from aconsortium of investors, including

Balderton Capital, Artemis and AngusMunro, the former chief executive ofMatalan. Chief executiveMatthewMoulding and chief operating officerJohn Gallemore founded the group in2004 and are reportedly gearing it upfor a stock-market flotation. Sales grew162% a year from £3m in 2006 to £53.6min 2009.

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5 ADCONIONInternet advertiser 149.65%

THIS company provides its clients witha variety of internet advertising services,from banner ads to streamed videos.Adconion claims it works withmorethan 2,000 publishers, who supply theadvertising space, and suggests that itsonline network can put its 500 clients intouchwith 400m consumers. Thecompanywas established in 2005 by TylerMoebius, who previously founded anAmerican technology company that wassold to Vivendi for an undisclosed sum.Adconion has expanded rapidly and nowhas 16 offices in seven countriesemploying 266 staff. In 2008 a privateequity consortium led by Index Venturesinvested £41m in exchange for a 31% stakein the company. Sales grew 150% a yearfrom £5.8m in 2006 to £90.6m in 2009,when the company reported a loss.

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6 MONUMENTAL GAMESComputer games developer 146.31%

THIS company develops video games thatcan be played online by thousands ofplayers at the same time. They are soldto game publishers, andMonumentalGames receives royalties based on howwell they sell to the public. TheNottingham company has also helped todevelop racing games for the Xbox 360and the Playstation 3. One of themostpopular is theMotoGPmotorcycle game.Chief executive Rik Alexander and chieftechnology officer Rocco Loscalzo foundedthe firm in 2005 and last DecemberMaven Capital Partners injected £2min exchange for a 20% stake. Sales grew146% a year from an annualised £346,000in 2006 to £5.2m in 2009.

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7 SHEBANGSoftware developer 136.58%

SHEBANG’s Sellfone 3G point-of-salesoftware is used bymobile-phoneretailers when signing up customersto contracts. The company collectscommission from network operators suchas Orange and Vodafone each time itssoftware is used, and providesmobilephones and accessories. It also runsits ownwebsites, which sell phones.This year Shebangwon a big contractwith Asda to supply its upcomingmobile-phone outlets, after walkingaway from a £20m deal with Tesco. TheDaventry companywas founded in 2000by Iain Humphrey and Joe Berry, whooversaw sales growth of 137% a yearfrom £4.5m in 2006 to £60m in 2009.

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8 FORWARD INTERNET GROUPOnline marketer 120.04%

WHEN someone types a query into anonline search engine, Forward Internet’ssoftware looks at it for key words andpositions a relevant advertisement forone of its clients in the search results.The company then receives a fee whenthe internet user buys something fromthe client’s website. Founded in 2004bymanaging director Neil Hutchinson,Forward Internet Group now countsleading companies such as Amazon, O2and Dell among its clients. The Londonfirm operates on the Continent, inAmerica and Asia Pacific, which it seesas its biggest area for growth. Last yearit won a large contract with HiltonInternational and acquired uSwitch,an energy price-comparison site. Salesgrew 120% a year from £4.8m in 2006 toan annualised £50.8m in 2009.

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9 GPEGLCD display developer 119.92%

GPEG designs andmanufactureselectronic displays that can be found ongames consoles in betting shops, in thebathrooms of luxury hotels and onbluetooth headsets. It says it spends 15%of its annual budget on research anddevelopment and is currently lookinginto combining its waterproof LEDtouch screenwith technology thatgives the impression that the screen istouching you back. Growth has come asthe company has responded to anincrease in demand for things suchas interactive advertising displays.Nick How co-founded the Londonbusiness in 2005 and has overseen salesgrowth of 120% a year from £591,000 in2007 to £6.3m in 2010.

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10 SCIEMUSSoftware developer 118.46%

SCIEMUS has developed risk analysissoftware that has been used to insuremore than 130 space satellites. Thecompanywas set up in 2002 when itsfounders, Andre Finn and Neil Fleming,saw a gap in themarket for technologythat can help to calculate insurance forhighly complex industries.Workingwiththe defence technology group Qinetiq, thecompany has gone on to produce softwarefor the power and propertymarkets,including software for assessing the riskassociated with renewable-energysources. It is now looking at the internetandmarine sectors. The Farnboroughbusiness achieved sales growth of 118% ayear from £579,000 in 2006 to £6m in 2009.The company has a profit margin of 38%,the second highest in the league table.

Microsoft’s Scott Dodds explains whyadvances in outsourced computingoffer a great opportunity fortechnology firms and their clients

THE SUNDAY TIMESthesundaytimes.co.uk/business 19.09.10 3

THE 3D poker-playing avatars created byPKR have featured in an advertisingcampaign thatmay be familiar totelevision viewers. The company operatesa 3D poker website that is designed to givethe feeling that the player is sat at a realpoker table. Players can create their ownavatars, dress them, add bling and evenmake themost of seasonal costumes onoccasions such as Christmas andHalloween. They can also create theperfect poker face by tweaking featuresand facialmovements, set theirmood tolet the table know if they are confident,nervous, aggressive or happy, as well asadjust their attitude and body language.The company is the brainchild of Jez

San, who founded the games developerArgonaut at the age of 16 andwasresponsible for StarGlider, one of the first3D computer games on themarket. In theearly 1990s Argonaut developed theworld’s first 3D graphics accelerator chip,whichwas sold to Nintendo. After anumber of other projects for the likesof Philips and Apple, Argonaut theninvested in developing its own

microprocessor chip called ARC, whichwas spun out into a separate company.ARC and Argonaut floated in 2000 andtwo years later San was one of the firstpeople to receive an OBE for services tothe computer gaming industry.The PKRwebsite tries to create a

community feel. It allows players tocontact each other through a forum andpick who they play against so that theyget to know their opponents. Players canalso sign up to receive the company’s freepokermagazine and watch other people’savatars playing poker on PKR TV.The company claims that some 4m

people across Europe, Canada andAustralia are signed to the site and that400,000 playmonthly, of which 80,000play formoney. Revenue is generated bycharging fees per hand— known as therake— and entry fees to tournaments.As well as poker, customers can playother casino games against the house,including roulette, Deal or No Deal,blackjack and Casino Hold’em.The companywas founded in 2004

and today has a team of 45 developerswho create new casino and poker games.In the next year it plans to launch3D blackjack, 3D Casino Hold’em and3D Caribbean stud as well asslot machines. It is also looking

to expand further on the Continent.PKR is backed by a consortium of

private investors and although thefounders are still actively involved inthe business, they appointed formermanaging director of The Ritz ClubLondonOnline, Malcolm Graham, aschief executive and Jean-Pierre Houareauas chief financial officer in 2006.The company claims it is adding

100,000 new players amonth, somethingthat is bound to bolster its alreadyimpressive growth rate of 356% a yearfrom £347,000 in 2006 to £33m in 2009.Revenue represents the net income frombets placed and games played rather thanamounts wagered by customers. Thecompany is regulated by the AlderneyGambling Control Commission and hasan office in central London.

PKR plays a winning hand with its poker avatars

Player: Rik Alexander of Monumental Games develops computer games

On cloud nine: clients can get all the computing power they need without having to buy and maintain the hardware

Time to get yourhead in the cloud

‘‘

Game changer: players take the table on a gambling website run by PKR, whose chief executive Malcolm Graham is depicted above as an avatar

BRITISH FIRMSWILL DOUBLESPENDING ONCLOUD SERVICESTO £1.2 BILLIONBY 2012

Strong cashflow, solid growth andgood management are the keyto securing bank finance, saysSean Duffy of Barclays Corporate

Charity websitepicks up pace todefy downturn

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11 DATANOMICSoftware developer 114.59%

THE softwaremade by Datanomic helpsbusinesses savemoney, streamline theirprocesses, reduce waste and remaincompliant with legislation. Most of its 160customers are in the financial services,telecoms, retail and utilities sectors andinclude Barclays, Vodafone, Royal Mailand Lloyd’s of London. Sales growth at theCambridge firm is partly attributed tooverseas expansion— offices in New Yorkand Singapore were opened recently. Thecompanywas founded in 2001 by RichardMarsh and is led by chief executiveJonathan Pell. Sales rose 115% a year from£524,000 in 2006 to £5.2m in 2009.

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12 MONEYBOOKERSOnline payment provider 108.18%

MONEYBOOKERS has developedtechnology that enables any business orconsumerwith an email address to sendand receive payments online securely andcost-effectively. The London firm claimsthat 14m people use its service and that60,000 internetmerchants, includingeBay and Skype, offer it as a paymentoption. The private equity houseInvestcorp took a 51% stake in 2007 whenit backed a €105m buyout led by jointchief executivesMartin Ott and NikolaiRiesenkampff. Sales grew 108% a yearfrom £4.8m in 2006 to £43m in 2009.

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13 COMTACTManaged services provider 105.78%

THE likes of Swift Cover, Royal Bank ofScotland and the retailer Space:NK turnto Comtact formanaged IT andcommunications services such as hostedapplications and disaster recovery. Thecompanywas founded in 2005 and isbased in London. It also has offices inStoke-on-Trent andWeybridge and islooking to expand into theMidlands,northern England and overseas.Under Dominic List, founder andchief executive, sales rose 106% a yearfrom an annualised £588,000 in 2006to £5.1m in 2009.

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14 MEDIA INGENUITYOnline lead generator 99.92%

MEDIA INGENUITY is an onlinemarketing and technology company thatconnects financial institutionswith alarge number of customers. Itstechnology generates leads formortgages,credit cards, insurance and otherfinancial products. Founded in 2006by directorsWill Becker and JonathanHassid, the London company also ownsTotallymoney.com, a price-comparisonwebsite that it claims is used by 1mpeople amonth. Sales grew 100% a yearfrom £822,000 in 2006 to £6.6m in 2009.

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15 365 ITECHNOLOGYIT services provider 96.22%

THIS company provides a range ofservices to commercial and governmentclients in Britain. It can, for example,supply data backup and security and candevelop IT infrastructure. The Hampshirecompanywas founded in 2002 with anundisclosed amount of start-up capitalfrom the Southeast Growth Fund andsince 2007 has expanded bymaking fouracquisitions. It has some 1,500 customers,including Jimmy Choo and JoJoMamanBebe, and says thatmany of these werewon as a result of referrals from its mainvendors, the technology giants IBM andCisco. Sales grew 96% a year from £1.1min 2006 to £8m in 2009.

This year, more than£21m of the £50.6mraised by partici-pants in the VirginLondon Marathon

was donated throughJustGiving, the fast-growingfundraisingwebsite.It is replacing paper forms

as the way to pledge moneyto thousands of good causes,ranging from Red Nose Day tothe recent disasters in Haitiand Pakistan. The company’ssoftware not only helps users tobuild a personal fundraisingpage, it also reclaims Gift Aidfrom the government on behalfof charities. In the nine yearssince its launch, the company,at No 82 in this year’s TechTrack 100, says it has helped12m people give £820m tomorethan 12,000 good causes.Some banks were wary of

JustGiving’s social business

model and took an inflexibleapproach to lending, accordingto Neil Bannister, its chieffinancial officer. The com-pany’s goal — to help fund-raisers and charities bring incash rather than to makemoney for investors — meansthat profits are re-invested inthe business.However, last month Bar-

clays Corporate was pleased toagree a £2.5m loan to supportthe firm’s expansion plans.Sam Kemp, relationshipdirectoron theTMTteamatBar-clays Corporate, has developeda deep understanding of thebusiness during his five-yearrelationship with JustGiving,allowing us to understand itsprocesses and look beyond thecompany’s unusual ethos tofind a firm with a strong man-agement team, a robust cash-flowandexcellent growthpros-

pects. As the brand has becomeestablished, turnover hasgrown 41% a year from £4m in2006 to £11.1m in 2009. Lastyear, profits before tax were£2.3m, all of whichwill be rein-vested in the business.Our relationship with

Just Giving dates from 2005when the firm’s innovativeapproach began to win accept-ance among charities thatwereusing the internet to raisemoney. At this time thevolume of transactions and set-tlement riskwas disproportion-ally high for a business of itssize, so an understanding of itsprocesses was critical in devel-oping the early relationshipbetween bank and client. This,combined with a consistentrecordof performance anda fre-quent flow of information, hascemented a strong partnership.Just Giving is one of many

expanding technology busi-nesses that Barclays Corporateis backing. We are prepared toconsider a loan against cash-flow, instead of securing thedebt against property or otherassets, when companies have aproven track record, a healthyorder book and a strong marketposition.JustGiving’s revenue comes

from charging charities a 5%fee on donations that are madethrough the site. The entire

donation goes straight to thecharities within days of beingmade, bringing them hugecashflow benefits. JustGivingthen reclaims Gift Aid onbehalf of each charity anddeducts its fees from the sum.So, for every £10 taxpayersdonate through the website,charities receive £11.92 afteradding Gift Aid and deductingall fees, charges and Vat.As a result, JustGiving has to

bear considerable negative

cashflows because it has to payfor credit-card transactionsbefore it receives the Gift Aidfromwhich fees are taken.By 2005 it was clear that the

huge volume of transactionstaking place at the time of theLondon marathon — now oneof the world’s largest annualfundraising events — wasputting a strain on cashflow.JustGiving’s original bank

was unable to provide workingcapital because it would only

make loans when a company’soutstanding payments werespread among a large numberof organisations, reducing therisk of default.But Barclays Corporate

understood there could be nomore reliable debtor than HMRevenue & Customs, so wewere happy to step in with ashort-term overdraft facility,which is vital to the success ofthe business.Since then, we have built a

strong relationship with thecompany, which has a diverserange of charity clients and ahigh volume of transactionsflowing through a secure anduser-friendly website. Thefirm’s operational systems arerobust and scaleable, and itsbespoke software and estab-lished market position createhigh barriers for potential com-petitors.We have been impres-sed with the management, ledby co-founder Zarine Kharas,and with her plans to take thebusiness to new territories.Looking ahead, JustGiving

will consolidate its recentexpansion after securing freshgrowth capital. Earlier this yearthe company moved to largeroffices in London to accommo-date a workforce that hasgrown from 42 to 60 over thepast ninemonths.The expanding technology

team is developing new prod-ucts, including an improvedwebsite, Facebook and iPhoneapps for fundraisers, andonline facilities thatwill enablesmaller charities to receive reg-ular income.In April the company signed

a licensing deal with a Japa-nese firm, and later this year itexpects to add outposts in Den-mark, the Netherlands andCanada. There is already a FirstGiving operation in America.Barclays Corporate has al-

ways taken a prudent approachto lending. But with a visibleincome stream and a provenmodel, ambitious technologycompanies such as JustGivingand others in the Tech Track100 can still find the funds theyneed to grow.n Sean Duffy, head of technologymedia and telecoms at BarclaysCorporate Bank, and Neil Ban-nister, chief financial officer atJust Giving, spoke to CatherineWheatley.

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21 SKYSCANNER.NETCheap flights search engine 86.61%

SKYSCANNER.NET operates acheap-flights search engine that, itclaims, compares prices on 670,000 routesflown bymore than 600 airlines. It alsooffers price-comparison services for carhire, hotels and holidays. The Edinburghcompany says that 10m people visit itswebsite everymonth to look for deals.Its clients include British Airways,Air France, Lufthansa and Easyjet.GarethWilliams, Barry Smith andBonamy Grimes founded the businessin 2001. Scottish Equity Partners, aventure-capital firm, invested £2.5mof growth capital in 2007. Sales atSkyscanner.net have risen 87% a yearfrom £1.4m in 2007 to £8.8m in 2010.

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22 PERFORMSports media provider 85.63%

THIS London company claims itbroadcasts and distributes more than17,000 live sports events online each year.Performwas founded in 2000 as PremiumTV, the sports subsidiary of NTL, which isnow owned by VirginMedia. In 2007 theRussian billionaire Len Blavatnikacquired Premium TV for £25m andmerged it with Inform, a digital sportsrights agency, to create Perform. Itsclients include the Barclays Premier

League, football clubs, publishers andonline bookmakers such as Bet365. Underjoint chief executives Oliver Slipper andSimon Denyer, sales at the companyrose 86% a year from £7.6m in 2006 to£48.4m in 2009.

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23 PRISM POWERPower systems maker 85.34%

PRISM POWER prevents the lights fromgoing out by providing its customers withuninterrupted power supplies andback-up generators. Its 20 clients operatemainly in the telecoms, data centre andfinancial sectors, and include the NewYork Stock Exchange, T-Mobile and TSTT,the Caribbean telecoms group. Chairmanandmanaging director KeithHallfounded the company in 2005 andoversaw sales growth of 85% a yearfrom £2.5m in 2006 to £16m in 2009.

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24 GREENLIGHTDigital marketing agency 79.77%

GREENLIGHT develops search-enginemarketing software that sends internetqueries to the websites of its clients,including Santander, Vodafone, NewLook and Interflora. The fast-growingonline advertisingmarket has boostedgrowth at the London company, whichhas expanded to operate in 20 languages,includingMandarin, Japanese, Urdu andArabic. Founded by chief executiveWarren Cowan in 2001, Greenlight is nowfocusing onways of helping its clientsexploit social media sites such as Twitterand Facebook. Sales grew 80% a year from£2.7m in 2006 to £15.7m in 2009.

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25 WIRELESS LOGICConnectivity developer 77.61%

VEHICLE fleetmanagers andmotorway-signmanufacturers are amongthosewho use the connectivity platformdeveloped by this Buckinghamshirecompany. It allowsmachines tocommunicate with each other throughSim cards similar to those found inmobile phones. Managing directorOliver Tucker and sales director Phil Colefounded the company in 1999 when agroup of business angels provided somestart-up funding. The companywas thenbacked by Peter Jones of Dragons’ Denfame andwas part of his PhonesInternational Group between 2003 and2009 before it became a separate entity.Sales have grown 78% a year from £1.5min 2007 to £8.2m in 2010.

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26 COMET SOLUTIONSIT consultancy 71.56%

THIS consultancy advises largebusinesses on software services thathelp them tomake better decisions andimprove theirmarketing. Managingdirector Ian Hopkinson founded thecompany in 2006 and initially soldsoftware services produced by Chordiant,a Californian developer. The company hassince diversified to cover products fromsoftware developers Unica and SAS. It hasno headquarters in Britain, but its 40consultants work onsite for its clients,which include BSkyB, Orange andVodafone. Sales at the company havegrown 72% a year from £1.3m in 2007 to£6.8m in 2010.

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27 CLINTEC INTERNATIONALClinical researcher 70.14%

CLINTEC does clinical research forpharmaceutical and biotech companies,including Pfizer and Glaxo Smith Kline.

Its current projects include research onhow fasting affects diabetic patients,and how the spine responds to surgery.The Glasgow company has offices in40 countries and recently opened one inNew York. In August it raised £8m fromElephant Capital to fund expansion inIndia. President and chief executiveRabinder Buttar founded the companyin 1997 and oversaw sales growth of70% a year from £2.3m in 2006 to £11.4min 2009.

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28 QICOMMTelecom services provider 63.65%

THIS firm provides infrastructure andsystems integration for telecoms andinternet companies. Its customersinclude BT, theMinistry of Defence andvarious overseas telecoms providers suchas Globacom in Nigeria. Qicomm’s futureplans include establishing a data centrein London’s Docklands to serve internetand telecoms providers; becoming avirtualmobile network operator; andfurther expanding its business intoAfrica. TheMiddlesex companywasfoundedwith business-angel investmentin 2005 and has since expandedorganically. Its sales increased 64% a yearfrom an annualised £15.8m in 2006 to£69m in 2009.

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29 TOUCH LOCALOnline marketer 62.59%

TOUCHLOCAL sells internet advertisingservices to businesses such as AOL andAsk.com. The London company offersfree listings, but customers can pay anannual subscription for priority spaces.It recently added video advertising toits website, allowing companies todemonstrate their products and services.TouchLocal was founded in 1994 and isrun by chief executiveMark Livingstone,who joined in 2006, having previouslyco-founded Lovefilm.com (No51 in thisleague table). Balderton Capital invested£7m of growth capital in 2006. Salesgrew 63% a year from £2.3m in 2006to £9.7m in 2009, when the companymade a significant loss.

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30 TRAFFIC JUNCTIONOnline marketer 62.49%

THIS company claims thatmany globalbrands turn to it to direct internetsearches towards their websites. TrafficJunction has developed software that siftsthroughwords and phrases keyed intosearch engines such as Google, Yahoo andBing. If a customer it directs to a websitecompletes a sale, it takes a percentage ofthe revenue.Managing directorMichael Edwards and operations directorBen Flux founded the Hertford companyin 2001 and now have 40 staff. Sales rose63% a year from £2.4m in 2006 to £10.2min 2009.

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31 BET365Online bookmaker 62.20%

FOUNDED in 1974 as a high-streetbookmaker, Bet365 has operatedexclusively online since 2005. Owned andrun by the Coates family, it has developedits own betting software. It operates in 17languages and 28 currencies. Sports betscan be placed before amatch starts oreven during play. Customers can also betonmovements in the financialmarketsand play poker, bingo and roulette.The company is based in Stoke-on-Trentand also owns Stoke City Football Club.Sales of the combined organisation havegrown 62% a year from £97.9m in 2007 to£418m in 2010. Bet365 has the biggestprofits in the league table at £101m.

Sector breakdown of Tech Track 100

Outsourced computer services16%

Digital media and entertainment

14%

Internet and network services

15%

Other software11%

Telecoms services10%

Financial software8%

E-business software7%

Managementsoftware5%

Telecoms software5%

Other4%

Health3%

Electronics and microchips2%

4 TECHTRACK100: Britain’s fastest-growingprivate technology companies

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16 FOURTH HOSPITALITYHospitality software provider 96.09%

CLIENTS including Carluccio’s,Wagamama, Fuller’s, Marston’s andJamie’s Italian use Fourth Hospitality’sweb-based software tomanage invoicing,purchasing, stock control, menus,human resources and payroll. Thebusiness has spent the past 12monthsexpanding in Britain as well as overseas,most notably in Spain and America.Earlier this year it also acquired acompany that developsmenu planningand nutritionalmanagement software.Fourth Hospitality was founded byhusband andwife Derek and EdwinaLilley. Its sales grew 96% a year from£1.1m in 2006 to £8.4m in 2009.

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17 ENDAVAIT services provider 95.29%

THIS IT services provider has recentlyexpanded its digital media division,which now accounts for 25% of turnover.Endava is involved in the design, creationandmanagement of IT infrastructure.The company recently helpedManchester United to rebuild its website,which it claims is one of the world’s mostvisited football clubwebsites. Endava wasfounded in 2000 and is based in London,with offices in Romania and New York. Itis led by chief executive John Cotterell.Sales rose 95% a year from an annualised£2.7m in 2006 to £20.4m in 2009.

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18 KASPERSKY LABSoftware developer 93.39%

KASPERSKY LAB is best known for itsanti-virus products, but the company alsooffers anti-spam,mobile security andhosted email protection software. Only asmall proportion of its products are solddirect to customers — the vast majority ofits revenue is generated by licensing itstechnology to vendors. Softwaredeveloper Eugene Kaspersky founded theMoscow company in 1997 and decided toregister it in Britain, and base it nearOxford, as a springboard to America.Sales increased 93% a year from £29min 2006 to £210.5m in 2009. The companyhas the second-highest profits in theleague table, at £62.6m.

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19 REACH-DATASMS services provider 89.14%

WHEN a bank wants to send textmessages to customers to alert them toany unusual activity in their accounts,itmay contact Reach-Data first. TheLondon company providesmobilemessaging and wireless technologyservices by teaming upwith Britishmobile-phone operators. It collects a feefor eachmessage and has seen sales growafter a recent surge in demand for bulkmessaging services. Reach-Data wasfounded in 2002 by chief executive GrantRomain. Its sales grew 89% a year from£1.5m in 2006 to £9.9m in 2009.

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20 CONTENT AND CODESoftware consultancy 88.97%

THIS London company designs websitesand intranets and advises its clients onhow to get themost from their Microsoftsoftware. Its recent projects haveincluded designing a contentmanagement system forWembleystadium staff, who use it to organiseevents at the venue. The company alsohelped to improve the accessibility of theRoyal National Institute for the Blind’sintranet and e-commerce website.Content and Codewas founded in 2001 bychief executive officer TimWallis andchief operating officer Craig Beard. Itssales have risen 89% a year from £953,000in 2006 to £6.4m in 2009.

Producing software that helpscompanies become more efficient:Datanomic’s Jonathan Pell,Ian Clubb and Steve Tuck

Good run: 42% of the £50.6mraised by this year’s

London marathon was donatedthrough the JustGiving website

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32 ACADEMIASoftware integrator 61.76%

ACADEMIA supplies software, hardwareand integration services to students,academic institutions and charities. Thenorth London company counts Oxfordand Cambridge universities among itscustomers and recently launchedStudentsuperstore.com, a website aimedat students. It also works with afurther-education procurement agent andthe Office of Government Commerce.Undermanaging director Mike Bacon,who founded the business in 2003,sales grew 62% a year from £1.3m in2006 to £5.4m in 2009.

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33 MOBICAMobile phone apps designer 61.06%

MOBICA creates and develops softwareformost of themainmobile-phoneplatforms, including iPhone, BlackBerry,Symbian and Android. It also developsblogging and social networking productsfor handset manufacturers. InMarchthe Cheshire company announced ajoint project with Blinkx, the videosearch engine, to deliver news andentertainment through video clipstomobile phones. Technologyentrepreneurs Nick Stammers and JonClayton founded the company in 2004and appointedMike Gibbons asmanagingdirector in 2006. Sales grew 61% a yearfrom £1.6m in 2006 to £6.7m in 2009.

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34 THE FOUNDRYVisual effects developer 60.81%

THIS company develops visual-effectsand image-processing software. TheFoundry has licensed its software toproduction studios includingWarnerBrothers, Disney and Sony ImageWorks,and it has been used to create sequencesfor Hollywood blockbusters such as HarryPotter, Clash of the Titans and Avatar.Chief technology officer Bruno Nicolettiand chief scientist Simon Robinsonfounded the London company in 1996,and Advent Venture Partners backedamanagement buyout in June 2009.Sales rose 61% a year from an annualised£1.6m in 2006 to £6.8m in 2009.

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35 JELLYFISHPaid search agency 60.60%

PUBLISHERS such as Haymarket andEmap employ this London company toconduct online paid-search campaigns.Its proprietary technology, the JellyfishUnifiedMarketing Platform, allows thecompany to assess if key words aregenerating a return, and change amarketing campaign accordingly. Itrecently won a contract with Skype andhas offices in London and New York.Overseen by technical director PaulWalsh andmanaging director Rob Pierre,sales grew 61% a year from £4.1m in 2006to £16.9m in 2009.

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36 SHAZAMMusic software provider 60.37%

SHAZAMhas developed technology thatallows people to identifymusic byholding theirmobile phone up to aspeaker fromwhich themusic is beingplayed. Users are then able to downloadthe song from iTunes, Amazon and otheronlinemusic stores. The companywasfounded in 2000 by a group of StanfordUniversity entrepreneurs with £1mfunding from a London consortium ofinvestors. The founders exited in 2004when a newmanagement team led bychief executive Andrew Fisher was

appointed and the funding consortiumwas bought out. In 2009 the companyreceived an undisclosed amount fromKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, whichalso backs Google and Amazon. Shazamclaims that 75m people in almost everycountry in the world use it products andthat one billion songs have beenindentified through its technology. Salesgrew 60% a year from an annualised£1.8m in 2006 to £7.3m in 2009.

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37 EPSILONTelecom services provider 59.83%

EPSILON offers network, support andvoice services tomore than 270 telecomoperators such as BT, Cable &Wireless,AT&T and Sprint. It also operates a globalhubs division, giving customers access toits data-centre infrastructure as analternative to setting up their own.The London company has focused oninternational expansion and nowsupports customers in 60 countries, withrecent successes in Latin America and

Singapore. Under chief executive AndreasHipp, sales grew 60% a year from £2.7min 2006 to an annualised £11.1m in 2009.The company ismajority-owned by aninvestment vehicle for the Kuok familybased in Singapore.

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38 INNOCORE GAMINGHardware developer 59.52%

SOME of the slot machines found in LasVegas casinos rely on circuit boards andsoftware developed by Innocore Gaming.The company, which is based at NorthShields in Tyne andWear, generates 35%of its revenue in America and has officesthere, as well as in the Netherlands andTaiwan. It was established as part ofDensitron Technologies, and in 2006started trading as a limited companybefore NEL FundManagement invested£400,000 in a 2007management buyoutled by Edward Price, themanagingdirector. Innocore’s sales rose 60%a year from an annualised £1.3m in 2006to £5.3m in 2009.


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39 ROCSAP software developer 58.10%

ROC has developed products based onthe software of SAP, the large Germantechnology group. They are designed tohelp clientsmanage human-resourcesmatters such as recruitment, staffretention and payroll. TheWeybridgecompany also provides SAP’s softwareon a pay-as-you-go basis. Its customersaremostly large companies such asPremier Foods, but also include SussexPolice and Southwark County Council.ROCwas founded in 1998 by a teamof five, which oversaw sales growthof 58% a year from £3.4m in 2006 to£13.4m in 2009.

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40 CELERITYIT services provider 57.90%

THE Lancashire-based IT consultancyCelerity designs and builds systems tosupport servers and data storage. Thecompany links upwith IT giants,including IBM, Cisco andMicrosoft,to provide services such as serverinstallation, remote network access andmanaged data storage. Founded in 2002bymanaging director Chris Roche andtechnical director Chris Hall, thecompany has boosted its sales 58% a yearfrom £6.4m in 2006 to £25.1m in 2009.

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41 DEDIPOWERManaged hosting provider 57.73%

DEDIPOWER provides network hostingand data-centre services that help to keepwebsites running for the likes of Virgin,Sony and ITV. The company claims it hassecured 150 new customers in the pastyear and now has some 800 in total. Saleshave been driven by expanding its clientsupport services, as well as by a £1.4m

capital investment in its data centres.Founded in 1998 by chief executiveCraigMartin, the Reading business hasgrown its sales 58% a year from £1.4m in2006 to £5.5m in 2009.

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42 ADAPTManaged services provider 57.55%

ADAPT provides co-location, networkservices and fully outsourcedmanagedhosting to about 850 customers. Thebusiness was bought by chief executivePeter Knight from its parent companyin 2006, with £7.5m in backing from aprivate equity consortium includingAlcuin Capital. It has sincemade twosignificant acquisitions. It doubled itsrevenuewhen it acquired the corporatenetwork provider Centric Telecom in2007, and later the same year boughtCentrecore, themanaged servicesdivision of News International, thenewspaper group that owns TheSunday Times. Sales at the Londoncompany grew 58% a year from £7.9min 2006 to £31m in 2009.

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43 SSLSoftware developer 57.32%

THIS Bristol company provides thetechnology and services for the electronicmotorway signs that are so familiar toBritish drivers. These are supplied to theHighways Agency, Transport for Londonand Transport Scotland, alongside otherproducts such as traffic control systemsand CCTV cameras. In the past year thecompany has won a contract withTransport for London to implement a newdigital CCTV system, which requires nocabling, only a network connection. SSLwas founded in 1979. In 1998managingdirector Louis Thompson bought it for anundisclosed sum. Sales have grown 57% ayear from £5.2m in 2007 to £20.4m in 2010.Beast from the film District 9: visual effects made possible by The Foundry

COLUMBIATRISTAR / IMAGE ENGINE

What’s that song? Shazam, led by Andrew Fisher, can tell you with its technology, which has funding from the American investors who backed Google

GRAHAMJEPSON

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44 S3 INTERACTIVETechnology repairer 56.81%

THIS company develops software that ituses to repairmobile phones and otherdevices, including GPS systems, PDAsand iPods. The Glasgow companywasfounded in 2003 bymanaging directorPhilip Johnston after he noticed that thelarge network operators were holdinghuge numbers of broken and damagedphones. Its customers include LG,Orange and Vodafone, and a recentmove into the Netherlands has alreadygenerated sales of €5m. The companygrew its total sales 57% a year from £2.1min 2006 to £8.3m in 2009.

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45 NODE4Communications provider 56.50%

NODE4 provides co-location, connectivityandmanaged hosting services from datacentres at its headquarters in Derby, aswell as from a second site inWakefield.It is constructing a data centre inNorthampton that will treble the servercapacity it can offer its 650 customers,which include companies in theconstruction and finance industries.Node4 was founded in 2004 bymanagingdirector Andrew Gilbert, who hasoverseen sales growth of 57% a yearfrom £1.9m in 2007 to £7.3m in 2010.

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46 WEWILLBUYYOURCAR.COMOnline car dealer 56.21%

THE software developed by this Yorkshirecompany gives car owners a freequotation on the value of their vehicle,as long as it is under six years old and hasless than 80,000miles on the clock. If thecar is in the condition stated by theowner, the companywill buy it and sell iton to themotor trade. In the past year itssoftware has gone live in Holland. Thefirmwas founded by chief executiveNoel Parkinson in 2005, and its saleshave grown 56% a year from £5.6m in2007 to £21.5m in 2010. These figuresinclude the total value of the cars sold.

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47 IRIS SOFTWAREBusiness software developer 54.94%

IRIS SOFTWARE develops businessmanagement software for accountants,lawyers, charities and otherorganisations. The company, which isbased in Berkshire, has launched a rangeof web-based products in the past year,as well as a web portal that allows itscustomers to share tips and ideas witheach other. Hellman & Friedman backedthe company’s £500mmerger withreseller Computer Software Group in 2007and tookmore than 50% of the equity.Chief executiveMartin Leuw oversawsales growth of 55% a year from £32.1min 2006 to £119.2m in 2009, although thecompany is making a significant pre-taxloss on ebitda of £41m.

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48 THE BUNKERManaged services provider 53.50%

AS its name suggests, The Bunker is allabout security, specifically data security.It owns and operates data centres as wellas building andmanaging IT systems fororganisations that require their data tobewell protected, such as financialcompanies. As a result its data centresare housed in formermilitary bunkersand all staff are thoroughly vetted. Jointchairmen Peregrine Newton and StevenJoseph founded the Kent company in2004, and in 2006 raised £1m from Fore-sight Venture Partners. Sales rose 54% ayear from £1.5m in 2006 to £5.2m in 2009.

Innovative firms are pouncing onthe opportunities presented bychanges in consumers’ behaviour,writes BDO’s Julian Frost

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54 GAMESYSGaming website operator 50.54%

GAMESYS runs the Jackpotjoy.comgamingwebsite, as well as white-labelversions of Jackpotjoy for Ryanair,Orange and Talk Talk. The London firmalso operates The Sun newspaper’s bingowebsite and in the past year has launchedtwo new bingo sites in conjunctionwithother groups, Caesarsbingo.co.uk andHeartgames.co.uk. Gamesys was foundedin 2001 and is led by chief executiveNoel Hayden, who oversaw sales growthof 51% a year from £17.3m in 2006 to £59min 2009. The company has thethird-highest profits in the league table,at £16.3m.

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55 MICRO NAVSimulation systems provider 50.39%

MICRONAVmakes air traffic controlsimulation systems for civil andmilitaryauthorities in Britain and overseas. Thecompany developed the simulator thathelped to bring Heathrow’s new controltower and Terminal 5 into operation.Some 95% ofMicro Nav’s sales comefrom abroad, from countries suchas Poland, Turkey andMalaysia. ChiefexecutiveMikeMale and head of systemsFred Johnson founded the Bournemouthbusiness in 1988, and oversaw salesgrowth of 50% a year from £1.7m in2006 to £5.8m in 2009.

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56 INTELLIFLOFinancial software developer 50.16%

INTELLIFLO develops web-based softwareused by the likes of Axa and Nationwidetomanage portfolio valuations, mortgageapplications, commissions andcompliance. Chief executive Nick Eatockfounded the business in 2004 when heled amanagement buyout fromInter-Alliance, an investment advisoryservice provider. The Surrey company

claims that its user base has increasedfrom 26 in 2004 to 6,500 in 2010, and thatthe rise in the popularity of cloudcomputing helped sales to grow 50% ayear from £1.8m in 2006 to £5.9m in 2009.

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57 VALUEWORKSSoftware developer 49.87%

BASED inWigan, Valueworks providese-commerce software services so that itscustomers can reduce their procurementcosts andmanage their spendingmoreefficiently. It focusesmostly on the socialcare and construction sectors, and seespotential in the healthcare sector. Chiefexecutive Jeff Dandridge and commercialdirector IainWalsh, whomet at theFrench food giant Danone, founded thecompany in 2000. Its sales grew 50% ayear from £1.8m in 2006 to £6m in 2009.

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58 TIMICOCommunications provider 49.01%

TIMICO provides the likes of BP andHondawith integrated telecoms thatinclude fixed line,mobile, internet andVoip services. It links upwith the likesof Nortel, BT and Vodafone, and chargesclients for each person that uses thesystem. The Nottinghamshire businesswas founded in 2004 by chairmanTimRadford, who puts much of itsgrowth down toword-of-mouthrecommendations from its clients.The company has raised £10m in equityfrom business angels and has used someof these funds tomake acquisitions.Sales grew 49% a year from £6.6m in2006 to £21.9m in 2009.

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59 CAMBRIDGE BROADBANDWireless developer 48.95%

THIS company provides wirelesscommunication equipment to telecomscompanies. The equipment is hardy

enough to be installed outside and so issuitable for use in developing countries.As a result, Cambridge BroadbandNetworks hasmade sales to the Africantelecoms companiesMTN Group andGateway Communications, for which it iscreating amobile broadband network inNigeria. Ten engineers from CambridgeUniversity founded the group in 2000.It has raised £45m in backing from aprivate equity consortium that includesAmadeus Capital. Chief executiveGraham Peel oversaw sales growth of 49%a year from £6.7m in 2006 to £22m in 2009.

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60 ORANGE ISIT consultancy 48.18%

THIS company provides IT consultancyand support to about 300 clients,including small tomedium-sizedbusinesses, big law firms and transportgroups. Orange Information Systemsclaims it has strong relationships with

many large technology groups, includingHitachi andHP. It was founded bymanaging director Alan Edwards in 2004and is based in London’s CanaryWharfbut also has an office in Birmingham.Sales have grown 48% a yearfrom £4.8m in 2007 to £13.4m in 2010.The company is currently planning toexpand overseas.

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61 PROBRANDIT reseller 45.87%

PROBRAND claims that itse-procurement systemhelps customers tosave time andmoney. It compares priceson 110,000 IT products, ranging frommemory sticks to fully implementednetworks. The Birmingham companysays it has about 2,000 customers, mostlyin the public sector, and has launched asecurity division to help its public-sectorclients avoid fines for losing data.Managing director Peter Robbins andfinance director Chris Griesbach, whowere childhood friends, founded thecompany in 1992. Sales rose 46% a yearfrom £18.6m in 2006 to £57.6m in 2009.

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62 HOSTELBOOKERS.COMAccommodation agency 45.76%

FOUNDED in 2003, Hostelbookers.comallows travellers to compare prices andbook rooms inmore than 20,000 hostels,guest houses and campsites in 3,000 citiesworldwide. Accommodation providerspay a fee when a booking ismadethrough the company’s website, butthe service is free for travellers. Thishas contributed to growth asHostelbookers.com claims it is able tooffer beds at nearly 9% less than its maincompetitor. Under chief operating officerDavid Smith, sales at the Londoncompany grew 46% a year from £2.7min 2006 to £8.3m in 2009.

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63 ESSENCEDigital marketing agency 45.74%

INTERNET GIANTS such as Google, eBayand YouTube turn to this Londoncompany for digital marketing andadvertising, search-engine optimisationandwebsite design and construction.The company has also recently developedan advertisingmanagement system forFacebook. Essencewas founded in 2005byMatt Isaacs, Andy Bonsall andAndrew Shebbeare. It claims that itsmulti-lingual workforce has helped itto win business on the Continent, whichin turn has helped the company’s salesto grow 46% a year from £6m in 2007 to£18.4m in 2010.

For innovative tech-nology firms, therecessionand its after-math are a chance tobuild newmarkets by

responding to changes in con-sumer behaviour.Fast-expanding companies,

like those in the Tech Track100, are boosting sales by dev-eloping disruptive technologythat offers businesses andhouseholdsa leaner,more intel-ligent approach to buying andselling, according to a forth-coming report by BDO.Over the coming months we

expect consumer demand toswing further away from bigbrands and conspicuous con-sumption and towards prod-ucts that offer value and lon-gevity. Part of this is becausehouseholds expect to havelower disposable incomes andpart because of long-term en-vironmental concerns. Indeed,more than half of the 12,000consumers from 14 countriespolled recently by Boston Con-sulting Group said that thefinancial crisis had deepenedtheir distrust of big business.Despite the downturn, we

believe that householders stillwant to have fun, althoughmore people are opting for

stay-at-home entertainment.Our forthcoming research,

Transitions to a New Consum-er, shows how technology dev-eloped by ventures like those inthis year’s league table is help-ing retailers get to grips with achange in buying behaviour. Inthe internet age, even comp-anies with big brands can nolonger expect well-informed,value-conscious shoppers topurchase without question.Instead, big businesses areusing online technology totailor their products to theneeds of individual consumers.Take Shazam, the mobile

application that allows peopleto identify tunes by using theirphone to capture the sound.The company, at No 36 in theleague table, says it isattracting 1m new users everyweek and many of them go onto download the songs fromonline music stores such asiTunes and Amazon.With Shazam’s technology,

which is available as a smart-phone app, music-industrygiants are reaching out to con-sumers that prefer the conven-ience of downloading singletracks to browsing throughrecord stores for entire albums.Shazam’s sales have grown on

average 60% a year from anannualised £1.8m in 2006 to£7.3m in 2009.Big brands are also using

technology to attract cost-con-scious shoppers. Skyscan-ner.net, at No 21 in the TechTrack 100, raised its sales 87%a year from £1.4m in 2007 to£8.8m in 2010. Thiswasdonebyworking with airlines andother travel companies to helpholidaymakers find low-costflights, hotels and car hire.Skyscanner.net is one of sev-

eral price comparison websites

in the league table that areempowering consumers bygiving them a huge range ofinformation. Last year about88m people visited the websiteof Cheapflights Media (No100),while Hostelbookers.com(No62) offers travellers theopportunity to checkprices andbook rooms in more than20,000 guest houses and camp-sites all over the world.Other league table comp-

anies are helping businessesreach out to customers throughwebsites that collect prices andinformation about an entiresector. For example, 1.4mrestaurant diners now readreviews, check availability andbook tables at 5,000 eateriesworldwide through the web-site of Toptable.com, at No92.Meanwhile, listings websiteTouch Local (No29) helps about4m people each month to findlocal tradesmen and otherservice providers.Several Tech Track 100 com-

panies are responding as con-sumers switch to home enter-tainment instead of costlynights out. Although our focushas changed, our appetite forfun shows no sign of waningduring these hard times.Indeed, during the six reces-sions since 1970, alcohol,tobacco and casino shareshave, on average, returned 11%against a 1.5% loss for the S&P500, according to research byMerrill Lynch.This year’s No1 company,

PKR, has taken online gamingto the next level with a pokerwebsite designed to replicatethe look and feel of a casino

table. Each month 100,000people in Europe, Canada andAustralia are said to be signingup to the site. Sales have grown356% a year from £347,000 in2006 to £33m in 2009.PKR is joined in this year’s

league table by several otheronline gaming groups, inc-luding Bet 365 (No 31), bingogroup Gamesys (No 54) andKing.com (No 70), where userscan play Scrabble and Uno.Interestingly, these three com-panies have some of the biggestprofits in the league table.Other forms of home enter-

tainment are also capturing theimagination of value-consciousconsumers. Lovefilm (No 51),the online DVD rental com-pany, appears in the leaguetable for the fourth consecutiveyear and is now thought to bethe third-largest subscriptionentertainment business inBritain — only Sky and VirginMediaarebigger—asmorecon-sumers decide to widen theirchoice of viewing.Over the coming years, Brit-

ain will look to young, vibrantcompanies to generate eco-nomic growth. We at BDO areencouraged that the recessionand its aftermath are prompt-ing a new flow of ideas, salesand employment from firmslike those in the TechTrack 100.We are helping many othertechnology companies to revisetheir business strategies andposition themselves for thefuture. In a changing world,standing still is not an option.n Julian Frost, head of technology,media and telecoms at BDO, spoketo CatherineWheatley.

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49 UKFASTInternet hosting provider 53.10%

THISManchester internet hostingprovider claims to have 10 of thecompanies in the FTSE 100 among itsclients, and is looking to attract moreglobal brands, withMicrosoft and Ikeaamong those it signed up last year. Apremiumhosting service called UKFastBlue, aimed at blue-chip companies, isdue to be launched soon and the companyis also branching out into recruitmentand IT security. Undermanaging directorLawrence Jones, sales rose 53% a yearfrom £2.5m in 2006 to £9.1m in 2009.

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50 CONTROL CIRCLEIT services provider 52.53%

THIS company designs, implements andmanages IT infrastructure that supportslarge transactional websites for the likesof Betfair, KPMG and Rightmove. Thecompany has access to 94 data centresworldwide and owns an ethernet networkin London to provide high-speed internetconnection. In February it secured £6mof growth capital from Scottish EquityPartners. Founded in 2001 by chiefexecutive DamienMilkins and chieffinancial officer Simon Hancock, theLondon company grew its sales 53% ayear from £2.6m in 2006 to £9.1m in 2009.

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51 LOVEFILM.COMOnline DVD rental 52.11%

A TELEVISION advertising campaignfeaturing clips fromwell-known filmsshouldmean thatmost people will beaware of this London company.Lovefilm.com provides online DVD rentalandmovie downloads to subscribers inBritain and on the Continent. It hasrecently developed a digital on-demandservice to integrate with internet-enabledSony television sets. The companywasfounded in 2002 and is led by chiefexecutive Simon Calver, with backingfrom a private equity consortium thatincludes Index Ventures and DFJ Esprit.Sales grew 52% a year from an annualised£27.6m in 2006 to £97.2m in 2009.

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52 NEOSSDental implants developer 51.33%

NEOSS has developed a dental implantsystem that uses titanium roots placed inthe jawbone to support an artificial tooththat should last a lifetime. The companyclaims that it supplies thousands ofclinics and hospitals, mainly overseas.Backed byMMCVentures, Delta PartnersandMedtronic, it has hadmore than£20m in investment since it waslaunched in 2000. The Harrogatecompany, led by chairmanMike Dormerand chief executive Neil Meredith,saw sales grow 51% a year from £4.2m in2006 to £14.6m in 2009 when it made asignificant loss.

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53 KELWAYIT services provider 50.59%

LONDON-BASED Kelway sells softwareand hardware, as well as offering servicessuch as data-centre setup, networkdesign, consultancy and training. It has2,000 clients andmost of its revenuecomes from large projects when clientsupdate their IT infrastructure. Kelwaywas founded in 1990 by chief executivePhil Doye. In 2006, Core Capital, aprivate equity house, invested £5m,which has been used tomake threeacquisitions. Sales at the company havegrown 51% a year from £52.2m in 2007to £178.1m in 2010.

‘‘

6 TECHTRACK100: Britain’s fastest-growingprivate technology companies

Simon Calver, chief executive of the DVD rental company Lovefilm.com

LIZCARRINGTON

Joining the high-flyers: Micro Nav provides simulators for training military and civilian air traffic controllers

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64 MOBILE INTERACTIVE GROUPPhone services provider 45.69%

LONDON-BASEDMobile InteractiveGroup providesmobile billing and digitalinteractive services for the likes ofVodafone, O2, ITV and Sky. The companyhas built smartphone apps for thetelevision show Britain’s Got Talent,as well as for other clients, includingWalkers, The Sun and O2. It has alsodesignedmobile-phone e-commerce sitesfor the likes of Marks & Spencer. Thecompanywas formed in 2004 and hasrecently expanded into America,Australia and South Africa. Under chiefexecutive Barry Houlihan, sales grew 46%a year from £22m in 2006 to £68m in 2009.

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65 ACTURISSoftware services provider 45.21%

ACTURIS provides a software service thatautomates administrative tasks andtrading for the insurance industry. Itsclients include the insurance giants Avivaand Allianz as well as brokers and banks.Sales growth last year was driven by arise in electronic trading of commercialinsurance. The London companywasfounded in 2000 and is led by joint chiefexecutives DavidMcDonald and TheoDuchen, who are looking to expand intomainland Europe. Sales grew 45% a yearfrom £4.6m in 2006 to £14.1m in 2009. Thecompany has a profit margin of 37%, thethird highest in the league table.

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66 ACTIVINSTINCTAffiliate marketer 44.48%

ACTIVINSTINCT’s founder SimonMilletbegan his retail career in the late 1980swhen he opened a sports equipment storein northwest London. In 2000 thecompany launched an online operationand, to optimise online sales, developedcustomer behaviour profilingtechnologies and email marketingstrategies. It now develops and runsonline sports stores for its clients andconducts affiliatemarketing to drivetraffic to their websites. Under chiefexecutiveMike Thornhill, sales at thecompany have grown 44% a year from£1.8m in 2006 to £5.4m in 2009.

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67 XBRIDGEOnline insurance broker 44.10%

LONDON-BASED Xbridge is an onlineinsurance broker that helps smallbusinesses to compare insurance andlending quotes on its website,Simplybusiness.co.uk. It was foundedin 2000 by non-executive directorBrad Liebmann. Brit Insurance boughta 38% stake for £7m in 2008 and, lastMay,new chief executive Jason Stockwoodjoined fromMatch.com. Sales grew 44%a year from £4.2m in 2006 to £12.5min 2009, when the companymade asignificant loss.

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68 NEXUS ONCOLOGYClinical researcher 43.71%

THIS Edinburgh company runsinternational drug trials to test newcancer therapies. It has about 25customers, mostly small biotechcompanies based in North America,although it opened offices in Germanyand Belgium this year. Sales growth hasbeen boosted by an increase inconsultancywork and the company’sgrowing ability to support larger trials.Chief executive ClareWareing foundedthe firm in 1999 with a redundancypayout of £10,000. Sales rose 44% a yearfrom £2.4m in 2006 to £7.2m in 2009.

Come fly with me: Gareth Williams’s Skyscanner.net finds cheap holiday flights

Technology disruptors seize their chance

FIRMS ARE USINGTHE INTERNETTO TAILOR THEIRPRODUCTS TOTHE NEEDS OFINDIVIDUALS

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69 TECHNOPHOBIAWeb software developer 43.36%

THIS company develops software thatmakes websites as user-friendly aspossible, and helps them to keep up withchanging technology. Technophobia’sbiggest customer is the TechnologyStrategy Board, a government body thatsupports research into new technologies.The company is based in Sheffield andwas founded by husband and wife Pip andAmelia Thorne. Its sales grew 43% a yearfrom £1.7m in 2006 to £5.1m in 2009.

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70 KING.COMGaming website operator 43.09%

SCRABBLE enthusiasts can play the gameonline thanks to King.com, which claimsthat some 25m people amonth visit itswebsite to play games and do puzzles.These include television spin-offs suchas Deal or No Deal and American Idol, aswell as Uno and Bejeweled. Some gamesoffer cash prizes and players pay a 25%commission to King.com.Most peopleplay for free. Chief executive RiccardoZacconi and Toby Rowland founded thecompany in 2003, and in 2005 ApaxPartners invested £23m for aminoritystake. Sales rose 43% a year from £13min 2006 to £38.2m in 2009.

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71 EXPONENTIAL-ENetwork services provider 42.96%

EXPONENTIAL-E designs, builds andmanages next-generation networks thatallow users to transmit voice, data andvideo through a single circuit. TheLondon company has also recentlylaunched a cloud service, enabling itsclients tomanage their businessapplications over the internet. Its clientsincludeMacmillan Cancer Support,Sony BMG and Bet365, and the companyclaims to have acquired 200 newcustomers during the past year.Exponential-e was founded in 2002 bymanaging director LeeWade, whooversaw sales growth of 43% a yearfrom £6.8m in 2007 to £20m in 2010.

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72 ADEPTRAManaged services provider 42.91%

ADEPTRA’s software flags up suspectedcredit-card fraud, and sends a textmessage or calls the card holder to verifythe transaction. It can also issue routinereminders to people whose payments areoverdue. The companywas founded in1996 and in 1999 raised $7.2m from aprivate equity consortium that includedACT Ventures and Advent VenturePartners. In 2000 $40mwas raised from aconsortium led by Deutsche Bank and afurther $5mwas raised in 2007. Under theleadership of chief executive Lou Venezia,sales at the Reading company grew 43% ayear from £7m in 2006 to £20.5m in 2009.

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73 DEFAQTO MEDIAFinancial software developer 42.15%

DEFAQTOMEDIA develops software toolsfor the financial sector, including anonline database that is used by insurancecompanies and banks to compare creditcards, current accounts and loans. Thecompanywas established in 2006 whenthe price-comparison firm Find Portalacquired the Independent ResearchGroup, which owned Defaqto. That dealreceived backing from FF&P PrivateEquity. Acuity VCT then invested £1m inthe business in 2008. The firm is led bychief executive Kenn Jorgensen, whoraised sales 42% a year from an annualised£2.9m in 2006 to £8.3m in 2009.

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79 LISTENING COMPANYCall centre software provider 41.46%

THE Listening Company offerstelemarketing, telesales and customerrelationshipmanagement services fromeightmulti-media call centres in Britain.It canmanage customer interactions byemail, phone and internetsimultaneously using its proprietaryplatform, Epicentre. The latest version ofthis can even be integrated with socialnetworkingwebsites such as Twitter.Founded in 1999 by chief executiveNeville Upton and chief operating officerAdrian Ingham, the Surrey business hasemployed former England rugby captainLawrence Dallaglio as sales director.Its sales grew 41% a year from £26m in2006 to £73.7m in 2009.

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80 REDWEBDigital agency 41.33%

THE digital agency Redweb providesa range of internet-based services,includingwebsite design andmarketing.The agency built the ElectoralCommission’s website, and also workedwith it on its Facebook profile toencourage younger people to vote. Othercustomers include Axa, HMTreasury andthe Scottish Parliament, which last yearawarded the company a three-yearcontract to redesign andmaintain itswebsite. Chief executive AndrewHenning founded the Dorset company in1997 and oversaw sales growth of 41% ayear from £1.8m in 2006 to £5.1m in 2009.

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81 THOMSONS ONLINE BENEFITSBenefits software developer 40.75%

COMPANIES such as Betfair, Royal Bankof Scotland and Cisco use the onlineemployee benefits management systemdeveloped by this London business toadminister reward schemes for their staff.In the past 18months, Thomsons OnlineBenefits has rebranded, moved to biggerheadquarters, relaunched its website andopened an office in New York. It has alsomademore than 400 enhancements toits software and has created a singleplatform that can be used worldwide.Chief executiveMichaelWhitfieldandmanaging director Chris Brucefounded the company in 2000. InDecember 2004 Pi Capital, the investornetwork, bought a 48% stake for areported £5m. Sales grew 41% a yearfrom £5.9m in 2006 to £16.3m in 2009.

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82 JUSTGIVINGFundraising website 40.70%

JUSTGIVING runs a website that enablescharities and individuals to raisemoneyonline. The company generates itsrevenue by collecting commission onGift Aid reclaimed from the government.It claims that 11m people have used itswebsite so far, helping to raise £700m forgood causes such as Sir Steve Redgrave’scharitable trust and the Yorkshire AirAmbulance. The London companywas founded by former City lawyerZarine Kharas in 2001. In the past year ithas expanded into Japan and launchedFacebook and iPhone apps. Sales atJustGiving rose 41% a year from £4m in2006 to £11.1m in 2009.

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83 OB10E-invoicing system provider 40.66%

OB10 claims that its software saves itscustomers time andmoney, as well asreducing their effect on the environment.The company’s invoice delivery systemallows purchase orders to be sentelectronically, and lets suppliers quicklycheck the status of an order. Abouttwo-thirds of turnover originates inEurope and one-third in America. Thecompany is based in London but hasoffices in Germany, Bulgaria, Malaysiaand America. Customers include Hertz,Lufthansa and Tesco. OB10was foundedin 2000 by four former Visa employeesand has raised £41m from a number ofinvestors, including FF&P. Sales grew41% a year from £4.7m in 2007 to £13.1min 2010, when the companymade asignificant loss.

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84 WORLDWIDE GROUPTelecom services provider 40.48%

WORLDWIDE GROUP provides telecomsservices ranging from line rental tobroadband. The 1,200 customers of thePeterborough company are in industriessuch as conferencing, finance andhealthcare. The company links upwiththe likes of BT and Verizon to provide itsservices and claims that sales growth hasbeen driven by demand for audioconferencing, as well as for services thatreduce costs. Husband and wife Paul andSelena Bailey established the company in2001 and appointedMark Duckmanton asmanaging director and Lydia Ross asfinance director. Sales rose 40% a yearfrom £10m in 2006 to £27.7m in 2009.

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74 ELITE TELECOMTelecom services provider 42.07%

IF you call a business that has installed anintelligent call-queuing system from EliteTelecom, youwill be advised on how longyou can expect to wait and be invited tocall back if the time is too long. Thesystem thenmemorises your number andplaces you at the front of the queuewhenyou do call back. Elite Telecomwasfounded in 2000 bymanaging directorMatt Newing to address the problemsfaced by call centres. Sales grew 42% ayear from £5.1m in 2006 to £14.6m in 2009.

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75 FOCUS 4 UTelecom services provider 42.05%

FOUNDED by Ralph Gilbert, ChrisGoodman and Paul Tolhurst, this Sussexcompany provides telecom services,typically to small andmedium businesseswith about 30 employees. Focus 4 Uwasset up in 2003 and has achieved salesgrowth of 42% a year from £3.1m in 2007to £8.9m in 2010, helped by the launchof itsmobile division in 2007.

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76 GRIFFIN INTERNETInternet service provider 42.03%

BY combining capacity bought from largeinternet service providers such as Tiscaliand BT, Griffin Internet provides awhite-label, wholesale internet service.This is used by smaller internet serviceproviders that cannot afford their owninfrastructure, or by other telecombusinesses that resell it. The companywas founded in 1993 and claims it wasbehind the first Premier League footballcommentary on the interent. In 2009 it

launched a series of cloud computing,virtualisation and hosting services.Overseen bymanaging director JohnDawson, sales grew 42% a year from£5.9m in 2006 to £16.9m in 2009.

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77 ITRS GROUPFinancial software developer 41.78%

GENEOS, the software that warns oftechnical problems, was developed bythis London company and can beinstalled within the software of financialinstitutions to safeguard hedging andtrading activities. ITRS Group claims thatit has more than 80% of the world’smostprestigious financial institutions as itsclients. It has recently started to exportits software to America and the Far Eastand is looking to develop similar softwarefor the betting and energymarkets. Thecompanywas founded in 1997 byMishaKipnis and Stephen Bates, who haveoverseen sales growth of 42% a year from£6m in 2007 to £17.1m in 2010.

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78 TOMORROW COMMSIT network provider 41.60%

IN the past 12months this Londoncompany has launched amanagednetworks support service and has signedup clients that include the BritishStandards Institution and the airlineEasyjet. Tomorrow Communicationswas founded in 2003 by TommyMaguireto design and implement IT networks.The company is led by the founder,as well as by directors MalcolmWyllieand Frank O’Brien. Contracts with largecompanies such as Sony and Sky havehelped sales at TomorrowCommunications to grow 42% a yearfrom £3.1m in 2006 to £8.9m in 2009.

Neville Upton of Listening Company, which provides call-centre services

Andrew Henning’s Redweb maintains the Scottish Parliament’s website

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85 OPTA SPORTS DATASports information provider 40.45%

OPTA SPORTS DATA has developed adatabase of sporting statistics that is usedby themedia, sports teams, bettingcompanies and football scouts. Itsplatform collects and distributesinformation on about 60,000 fixtures ayear, covering 30 different sports in 70countries. Customers include NewsInternational, Yahoo and Chelsea andArsenal football clubs. The Londoncompanywas bought from Sky by thecurrentmanagement team in 2003, andin 2008 the private equity house AlbionVentures invested £1.5m. Under chiefexecutive Aidan Cooney, sales grew 40% ayear from £2.3m in 2006 to £6.5m in 2009.

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86 DATIXHealth software developer 39.95%

HOSPITALS use Datix’s software toanalyse patient safety, trends and assessrisks. This helps them to improve safetyand get a better understandingwhenthings go wrong.Most of its revenuecomes from licensing fees, but about 12%is derived from consultancy services. Itsclients include private healthcare groups,NHS trusts and the US Department ofDefense. The business was founded in1986 and is run by chief executiveJonathanHazan. InMarch 2008 theprivate equity group Bowmark bought amajority stake. Sales have grown 40% ayear from £3m in 2007 to £8.1m in 2010.The company has a profit margin of 54%,the highest in the league table.

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87 BLUESOURCEIT consultancy 39.38%

THIS London IT consultancywas recentlyappointed by theWWF (WorldWildlifeFund) to install a range of Microsoft andSymantec technology to cut costs, givebetter information and support theorganisation’s green ethics. As well asimplementation services, Bluesourceoffersmanaged services, consultancyand support. The business was foundedin 2000 by AndyWard and AndrewMcKeeve, who oversaw sales growth of39% a year from £2.5m in 2006 to £6.8min 2009. They are now looking to openan office in Singapore.

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88 RULE FINANCIALBusiness and IT consultancy 38.91%

RULE FINANCIAL advises banks andhedge funds on how to cut costs, managerisk, improve productivity and extract themaximumvalue from their IT. TheLondon company has offices in Barcelonaand New York, and acquired a Polishsoftware consultancy at the end of 2008.Marcus Rule founded the company in1997 and became chairman inMarch thisyear after appointing Chris Potts as chiefexecutive. Sales grew 39% a year from£10.2m in 2006 to £27.3m in 2009.

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89 ENTANET INTERNATIONALCommunications provider 37.97%

ENTANET provides voice and dataservices, including a high-speedbroadband service, to small businesses aswell as big ones. The companyworks inpartnershipwith the likes of BT, GlobalCrossing and VirginMedia, and claims itis the only non-BT company to have fullyadopted BT’s high-speed communicationsnetwork, 21CN. The firmwas founded in1996 by chief executive and chairmanJason Tsai and is based in Telford. Salesgrew 38% a year from £10.4m in 2006 to£27.2m in 2009.


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90 NEURAL TECHNOLOGIESSoftware developer 37.71%

THIS company has developedpattern-recognition software that helpsthe likes of Orange, T-Mobile and GEMoney tomanage customer credit riskand detect fraud. Last year the Hampshirecompany bought a telecom analytics tooland two data centres from Fair Issac, anAmerican business analyst, for $6m. Thecompany has offices all over the worldand is led by chief executive John Gavan.Sales have grown 38% a year from £4.1min 2007 to £10.8m in 2010.

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91 THE CLOUDBroadband service provider 37.51%

THE growing demand formobile access tothe internet has given a boost to growthat The Cloud. The St Albans groupprovides public-access wifi services inBritain and across Europe with 7,500locations in operation, of which 1,500 arein Germany and 1,000 in Scandinavia.Its clients include O2, McDonald’s,Pret aManger andWetherspoons. NiallMurphy, a non-executive director, andGeorge Polk founded the company in2003. Sales grew 38% a year from £6.8min 2006 to £17.6m in 2009, when thecompanymade a significant loss.

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92 TOPTABLE.COMRestaurant reservation site 36.30%

DINERS can book tables atmore than5,000 restaurants worldwide usingToptable.com’s iPhone app and itsmobile-friendly website. The Londoncompany claims it has 1.4m registeredusers, who can review their diningexperiences at venues ranging from theRitz in London to the Spice Pavilion inEdinburgh. By booking online, they can

earn points that can be claimed againstthe cost of themeal. Chief executiveKaren Hanton founded the company in1999 and oversaw sales growth of 36% ayear, from £2.6m in 2006 to £6.6m in 2009.LastWednesday the companywasacquired for $55m (£35m) by Open Table,the American restaurant reservationswebsite operator.

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93 2BMData centre designer 35.76%

2BM designs, builds and fits out datacentres and also provides IT services. Itscustomers include IBM, Capgemini andCable &Wireless. Over the past year theNottingham firm has secured contractswith Birkbeck College (University ofLondon) and theMinistry of Defence.Jointmanaging directorsMark King andJason Preston founded the company in2002 and have seen sales grow 36% a yearfrom £3.2m in 2007 to £8m in 2010.

THE SUNDAY TIMES MICROSOFT TECH TRACK 100 JOIN THE OUR TEAM 2012 PROGRAMMETHE 10th annual Tech Track 100league table is produced by FastTrack, Britain’s leading networkingevents company that focuses ontop-performing private companiesand entrepreneurs.Fast Track researches and

publishes seven different annualleague tables with The SundayTimes, ranking the fastest-growingto the biggest private companies,and holds events for entrepreneursto network andmeet our sponsors.

It is run by Dr HamishStevenson, who holds an associatefellowship at Green TempletonCollege, Oxford University. He isalso personally involved in helpingto raise funds for the Our Team2012 Programme, which supportsBritish athletes.The Tech Track 100 research

wasmanaged by Naomi Colegate.Fast Track’s sole source of

revenue is from sponsors. Wewould like to thankMicrosoft for its

title sponsorship for the seventhyear, as well as our main sponsorsBarclays Corporate and BDO for athird year.Nominations for next year’s

table can bemade atfasttrack.co.uk, or sent to

Angel Court, 81 St ClementsOxford OX4 1AW

Phone 01865 297100Fax 01865 297001Email [email protected]

OURTEAM2012, launched byHugh Robertson,minister for sport and olympics, andwith Dragons’ Denstar DuncanBannatyne as its ambassador, is the firstprogramme of its kind to provide small andmediumsized companieswith the opportunity to join Britain’sathletes on their journey to success in 2012.For £9,900 a year, a business can become an official

“follower” of Our Team2012, receiving an exclusivelogo and the chance to take staff and clients to a hostof sport, networking and hospitality events where theymaymeet the athletes. This support will raise vitalfunds to help athletes realise their dreams. To play yourpart inmaking history, go to team-2012.com/sme.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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94 CYBITTelematics developer 35.73%

THIS Cambridgeshire company designsGPS tracking software and providesconsultancy services for businesses thatwant to improve their efficiency. Cybit’ssystems can track the vehicles in acompany’s fleet and give reports ontheir progress. Itsmain clients includeKwik Fit, Carlsberg, Fujitsu and VolvoConstruction Equipment. Cybit hasgrown internationally and has customersinmore than 20 countries.In January,the companywas delisted from theLondon Stock Exchangewith anundisclosed amount of backing from theAmerican private equity house FranciscoPartners, which hired chief executiveofficer Bill Henry from TomTom, thesatnavmaker. Sales grew 36% a yearfrom £10.2m in 2006 to £25.5m in 2009.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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97 EXCELIANIT consultancy 35.20%

EXCELIANwas founded in 2001 as anIT consultancy focusing on thecapital-markets divisions of big banks.It implements platforms that improvetrading and riskmanagement, and hascustomers including JPMorgan Chase,Barclays Capital and Egg. The Londoncompany has also expanded intotechnical and commodities consulting.Growth has come through offices beingopened in New York, Sydney andJohannesburg. Joint chief executiveofficer AdrianMarshall and chairmanStephen Grant founded the company in2001 and oversaw sales growth of 35% ayear from £5.4m in 2006 to £13.3m in 2009.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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98 THUNDERHEADSoftware developer 35.07%

BASED in London, Thunderhead providessoftware to the likes of Saga, Barclays andAmerican Express so they can personalise

their communications with customersand send themmore relevantinformation. The company offers a singleprogram tomanage communications inanymedium, such as print, email andmessages sent to smartphones. It claimsthis can free up to 70% of IT resources andincrease customer loyalty. Founded in2001 by chief executive GlenManchester,Thunderhead has boosted its sales 35% ayear from £7.4m in 2006 to £18.3m in 2009.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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99 MEETINGZONEConference call provider 34.78%

MEETINGZONE claims that its salesflourished during the recession ascompanies tried to cut travel costs. Its10,000 customers, which include NationalGrid andHouse of Fraser, have access toits telephone andweb conferencingservices 24 hours a day, seven days aweek. The companywas founded in 2001and inMay 2002 raised £2.1m fromNovaCapital Management and businessangels. It has offices in Berlin, Torontoand Boston. Chief executive Tim Duffyand operations director Steve Gandyoversaw sales growth of 35% a year from£4m in 2007 to £9.9m in 2009.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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100 CHEAPFLIGHTS MEDIAPrice comparison website 34.73%

THIS is the parent company ofCheapflights, originally launched in 1996to compare flight deals online. In the pastyear it has launched Zugu, whichcompares flight prices for people with lessflexible travel itineraries. Cheapflights’eight websites serve ten countries whileZugu has sites in Britain, Germany andAmerica. The company claims to havehad 88m visits to its websites last year.Chief executive Chris Cuddy oversawsales growth of 35% a year from £12.3min 2006 to £30.2m in 2009.

Headquarters location of Tech Track 100 companies

London52

Southeast17

North

Midlands

10

Southwest

Scotland

4

9

East

3

Wales

5

0

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95 SOLARCENTURYSolar technology developer 35.55%

SOLARCENTURY claims to be Britain’slargest independent solar-energycompany. It designs andmanufacturessolar panels, installs them and providesadvisory services. The company has beenawarded contracts ranging from the

Eden Project and the National Trustheadquarters to the Big Brother House.Sales in continental Europe account for35% of overall revenue. The Londoncompany, whichwas founded byexecutive chairman Jeremy Leggett,raised £13.5m in 2007 from a consortiumof investors. Sales have grown 36% a yearfrom £13.9m in 2007 to £34.5m in 2010,when the companymade a loss.

PlantHirer 114.24%


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96 NEVERFAIL GROUPBusiness software developer 35.40%

THE dependence of businesses oncomputers andmobile phones hasmadedisaster recovery software popular inrecent years. Neverfail says it has goneone step further and developed softwarethat can detect when an application isabout to fail, and switch to anotherserver. Its customers include themobile-phone companies Vodafone andO2, which sell its software to BlackBerryusers to protect their email. The Berkshirefirmwas founded in 1993 and is led bychief executive Peter Parker. Sales havegrown 35% a year from £4.8m in 2007to £11.9m in 2010, when the companymade a significant loss.

8 TECHTRACK100: Britain’s fastest-growingprivate technologycompanies

Documents

2010 Tech Track 100