3 July 2024

The Sunday Times Hundred x Beauhurst

Created in partnership with Beauhurst, The Sunday Times Hundred 2024 is live. We highlight the top five fastest-growing companies.

Words Lily Ruaah

The Sunday Times Hundred launched last week, and for the third year running, Beauhurst had the privilege of helping to assemble the ranking.

With insights into each company’s growth, strategy, and contribution to their respective industries, The Sunday Times Hundred not only highlights financial performance but also underscores the importance of leadership, sustainability, and forward thinking in today’s dynamic business landscape.

From the list, you can explore the stories behind these remarkable companies, uncovering what sets them apart in an increasingly competitive and ever-evolving global market.

See the full list.

What is the Sunday Times Hundred?

The Sunday Times Hundred is the UK’s most prestigious high-growth list for businesses. It celebrates innovation and success by offering an in-depth look at the nation’s top-performing, profitable businesses.

It features companies that have demonstrated significant growth, profitability, and market impact, providing valuable insights for entrepreneurs, investors, and those interested in the future of UK businesses.

As Henry Whorwood, Managing Director — Research & Consultancy, writes, “Business growth can come from any quarter. Sectors, regions and nations across the UK are all home to dynamic businesses that generate jobs, tax revenues and prosperity. Finding the fastest-growing is hard, which is why we help assemble this list.”

Methodology

The Sunday Times Hundred was created using a combination of companies found through the Beauhurst platform and self-nominations by companies.

To be included on the list:

Companies need more than £5m in sales in their latest year of trading and at least £25k worth of sales four years ago. They must have at least five employees and, crucially, be profitable.

Hear from Beauhurst’s Managing Director — Research & Consultancy, Henry Whorwood, in the Sunday Times article: What it takes to make the Sunday Times 100 to find out more.

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The Sunday Times top five companies

We highlight the top five companies from the Sunday Times Hundred, but you can see the full list on their website.

At number five is Ancient + Brave, a company that creates collagen products aimed at improving health and wellbeing. Collagen is a protein that plays a crucial role in the structure and function of various tissues in the body. People take collagen supplements for a number of reasons: skin and joint health, muscle mass, for hair and nails, the list goes on.

Since launching in 2017, Ancient + Brave has featured on the FoodTech 500 three times, most recently in 2021. It has secured three rounds of equity funding, most recently £3m from Piper Private Equity towards the end of 2023, making £3.37m raised in total.

TRIP is a CBD company — it produces and sells CBD drinks and CBD oil. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, meaning it does not produce the “high” typically associated with cannabis use. However, CBD is believed to have various other health and wellness benefits.

This is the second time this drinks company has featured on the Sunday Times 100 list, having also featured in 2023. The company was incorporated in 2019, and since then has gone through three fundraising events, the most significant of which in 2022 where the company raised £10.2m from angel investors.

Rheal Superfoods makes and sells a range of superfood blends, inspired by one of the founder’s own struggles with coeliac disease. All of its products aim at incorporating more superfood into a daily diet to improve the immune system, improve energy levels and promote gut health.

Rheal attended the Entrepreneur Accelerator in both 2018 and 2019. It has secured four rounds of funding, raising a total of £1.17m in equity funding since 2017. Most recently, it raised £60k in 2023.

Clive Henry Group operates a holding company which owns and manages a range of companies such as Mprove, Woodrow Mercer Healthcare and Tech Canal — all of which support health and social care activities.

The company’s mission is “to provide the highest quality tailored services across the healthcare industry, through processes, people, and technology, to ensure their clients’ needs are met and exceeded.”

The company underwent an MBO in 2023 backed by Praetura Commercial Finance.

At the top of the Sunday Times 100 list is Allica Bank. Allica Bank operates a branchless bank targeted at both businesses and consumers, run through an online banking platform and a network of local bankers. The challenger bank reported its first profitable year after just three years of lending, earlier this year.

The company has gone through a huge 12 fundraising events, raising a total of £386m in equity. It appeared on three high-growth lists in 2023: the Rising 100, London Fast Growth 50, and Deloitte Fast 50.

Lily Ruaah

Content Associate

With a dynamic career spanning over a decade, Lily is the Co-Founder of BlackCat Content and a professional writer. At Beauhurst, she drives the creative and analytical writing initiatives, producing compelling content that captivates and informs. Before Beauhurst, she worked as an SEO Content Writer, where she honed her skills in optimising content for search engines. Adding to her repertoire, Lily holds an MA and BA in Creative Writing, blending her passion for creativity with a keen analytical mind.

Get access to this data for yourself

You too can get access to exclusive business data. All you need to do is to sign up with Beauhurst.

With Beauhurst, you can monitor high-growth businesses across diverse industries throughout the UK like the ones you can see on the Sunday Times Hundred list. Plus, we now cover 4.6 million (and counting) companies, offering you a comprehensive view of the UK economy. Interested in seeing the platform in action? Schedule a demo with one of our experts today.