14 North West firms make Sunday Times fastest-growing private businesses list

14 companies headquartered in the North West have ranked among the 100 fastest-growing privately-owned firms in an annual ranking by the Sunday Times newspaper.

The Sunday Times 100 – Britain’s fastest-growing private businesses celebrates Britain’s 100 leading entrepreneurial businesses, and showcases the people behind these most dynamic private companies, with firms selling their own technology listed in a sister table for the tech sector.

The North West saw the most firms including in its ranking outside of London, where 45 of the 100 firms are headquartered, with one Stockport-headquartered business making the ranking: beauty products retailer, P Louise, which has seen 98.84% growth over the past three years and reports sales of £111.0 million in the past year.

The research for The Sunday Times 100 found on average the top 100 fastest-growing companies have increased their sales by 108% a year over the last three years to a combined £4 billion in sales. This figure is up by £600 million compared with the same table last year, with the 2025 cohort of top 100 fastest growing companies achieving £3.4 billion in sales.

In total these companies employ 13,700 people, having created 8,900 new jobs in the last three years, with almost all of them planning further hires in the next 12 months – equating to around 4,200 additional roles.

A record number 33 of the businesses have female founders, co-founders or chief executives.

The research for the Sunday Times 100 was conducted by the newspaper’s business reporters, in partnership with Beauhurst, a source of private company data. It is sponsored by is sponsored by Barclays Private Bank and supported by S&W, Oracle NetSuite and Singer Capital Markets.

To be included on the list companies have to be registered in the UK and be independent, unquoted and ultimate holding companies. Sales growth is measured by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the latest three financial years. Annualised sales have to exceed £250,000 in the base year and not show a drop from the penultimate to the latest year, in which total sales must exceed £5 million. The companies also need to make a profit in their latest year of trading.

Jon Yeomans, business editor of The Sunday Times, said:

“Celebrating five years of The Sunday Times 100 shows the amazing variety of British businesses, led this year by the media producer Goalhanger taking the number one spot. The biggest trend over the last five years is the rise of consumer brands, with food, drink, fashion, and beauty companies now making up nearly half the list. 

“Several businesses who have featured in the past, such as Huel and Applied Nutrition, have continued to grow and find huge success, from launching on the stock market to being bought out by global giants.” 

Mohammad Kamal Syed, Barclays’ Head of Private Bank and Wealth Management UK and Crown Dependencies, said:

“Our continued support for The Sunday Times 100 reflects our commitment to backing Britain’s entrepreneurial businesses at every stage of their growth and celebrating the innovation and impact that they bring to the UK economy.”