Strong, resilient and innovative’ – small and medium-size businesses continue to be the engine room in driving the economy of both the Bradford district and the national economies.
And despite a year of uncertainty, with Brexit looming large and other factors impacting on businesses, it is a sector that has continued to grow in the district – as the recent publication of the annual SMEs top 50 companies shows.
Leading accountants BHP publishes the list, which puts into the spotlight the vital role these firms play both locally and nationally.
The financial firm carries out the crucial calculations to come up with the 50 best-performing SMEs across the Bradford district, the Aire Valley, and Skipton.
And in 2019, the Top 50 has seen an overall increase in both profit and turnover, and a small increase in the number of people they employ.
The list also shows that a number of new firms have been featured for the first time.
Nigel Bullas, partner with BHP, said: “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region have once again shown the way with a year of outstanding performance.
“This year’s Top 50 has seen a six percent increase in total turnover and, better still, a 10 percent increase in profit before tax. Meanwhile, employee figures have crept up by one percent, meaning that the Top 50 now provide employment for around 7,500 people.
“The period covered by the survey can best be described as ‘uncertain’, with contracting lending and rising inflation putting a squeeze on businesses, alongside a variety of Brexit related challenges.”
Of the 16 companies that dropped out of the list this year, two of which have gone through some form of sales process and become part of larger organisations – which possibly indicates a reasonable level of merger and acquisition activity in the region.
“The results of the survey suggest that the SME market in the region, and hence the individuals behind those businesses, are strong, resilient, innovative and entrepreneurial,” said Nigel.
“In recent years, the SME market has proven itself to be the engine room of the UK economy, generally outperforming the market on job growth, productivity and investment in innovation,” he said.
This year has seen 16 new entries make it into the top 50, including five in manufacturing and four in service.
The Keighley based clothing and fabric manufacturer Peaspring was in first place once again, but there were three new entries in the top five.
The highest of the new entries is D&M Middleton of Cleckheaton, who are manufactures of vehicle mats, who are second. Joining them are Red Embedded Holdings in Shipley at number three, and another Cleckheaton firm, Orean Personal Care Limited at number five.
Completing the top five at number four is Glusburn Holdings, based in Glusburn near Keighley, a manufacturing firm.
The results show a strong and resilient body of businesses across a wide range of sectors and industries, which include property, leisure, construction, textiles, health and beauty, textiles, and motors, presenting a picture of growth in profits, turnover, and employment among SME businesses.
Overall pre-tax profits are shown to be up from £73.5 million last year for the top 50 firms to £80.9 million this year – an increase of around 10 percent.
Total turnover has also increased, going from £942.6 million last year up to just over £1,000 million this year – an increase of around six percent.
The total number of people employed by the top 50 has shown a small increase of around 1 percent, rising to 7,478.
The figures will buoy up the continued optimism about the Bradford district economy, and its increasing status as a major economic player in the region.
With Bradford identified in the last Barclays Bank SME Growth Factor Index as the best place in the country to start a small and medium business, the continued importance of their success is clear.
In the Bradford district that is covered by Bradford Council alone, that has helped to create a growing economy that is worth £10 billion and is regarded as the ninth largest city economy in England.
According to the Bradford Economic Strategy published last year, the number of overall businesses has increased by 20 percent over the last three years, rising fast than the overall rate for Leeds City Region, in which Bradford is a key player and UK rates of growth.
The strategy, which is now the cornerstone of ongoing work to bring more investment into the city and the district, and aims to make the economy worth £14 million over the next 10 years, creating an additional 22,000 jobs for the local economy.
The successful businesses featured in the BHP Top 50 SMEs will all play a key role in that forward momentum.
“Despite of the levels of uncertainty and top-line pressures, businesses of course deal with the reality on the ground. The results of the survey suggest that the SME market in the region, and hence the individuals behind those businesses, are strong, resilient, innovative and entrepreneurial,” said Mr. Bullas.
