Stratford firms hold top two spots in Warwickshire’s list of top 100 private businesses
WARWICKSHIRE’S largest privately-owned businesses generated £10 billion of turnover, according to a business analyst report.
The Grant Thorton Warwickshire Ltd 2024 report also found turnover had increased among these businesses by a total of 4.9 per cent, providing earnings before interest, tax depreciation, and amortisation of around £553 million.
The report, using the most recently available accounts (as of January 2024) also ranked the county’s private firms, with the top two based in Stratford.
Top of the pile, for the second year in a row (this is only the second annual report from Grant Thornton to focus on private firms in the county) was the Rigby Group.
The report said the firm, which has its HQ on the gyratory, is the largest privately-owned IT solutions provider in Europe and has continued to thrive.
The technology, media, and telecommunications sector that Rigby Group is part of also contributed most to the regional economy, generating £4.5bn of total revenue.
“Multi-generational family businesses like Rigby Group are unique things: personal; value-driven, creative, entrepreneurial; community centric,” Steve Rigby, co-CEO of the Rigby Group, told the report’s authors. “These qualities combined with our long-term thinking and five decades of experience as operators and investors make us well placed to manage any challenges.”
Second on the list was Listers Group Ltd, the car dealership.
The Stratford district also had two other entries on the top 10, Holt Holdco Ltd (Helping Hands) in Alcester and Ricor Global Ltd in Studley.
The former provides care and support to people in their homes, the latter is an engineering firm which works with the motor industry.
The report adds that the firms in the top 100 saw year-on-year profits up 18.3 per cent in total on turnovers that ranged from £7.8m to £3.9bn.
Other high performing sectors include automotive and industrials, which accounted for 39 of the top 100 companies, followed by consumer (20) and business support services (18).
The report also saw 15 new Warwickshire-based firms break into the top 100, including baby products maker Green Sheep Group (Macro Holdings Ltd) in Snitterfield.
Nick Gillott, partner and head of corporate finance at Grant Thornton in the Midlands, said: “There’s a quality of leadership and a spirit of entrepreneurship behind these businesses that bodes really well for the future. Warwickshire’s economy has found strength in diversity and has a broad base of private companies thriving in sectors where there is dynamic growth.
“We know there is more to come, especially given Warwickshire’s emergence as a global hub for the video games industry.
“There is a vibrant ecosystem of game development companies in the ‘Silicon Spa’ area, which employs 15 per cent of the UK’s games development talent.
“There’s also a very evident commitment to innovation reflected in the county’s involvement in the new Coventry and Warwick Gigapark Investment Zone.
“It’s an exciting time to be working here and we congratulate the businesses which feature in the latest Top 100.”
The report does not include listed businesses of those which are subsidiaries of overseas companies.
