The UK Fast Growth Awards at ICC Wales in Newport showcase some of the UK’s fastest growing companies
At a time when the Welsh economy continues to struggle with relatively low productivity, poor business investment and a longstanding prosperity gap with the rest of the UK, it is sometimes easy to overlook the extraordinary achievements of businesses that, despite the challenges they face, continue to create employment, generate wealth and expand into new markets.
Earlier this month, we celebrated some of these exceptional companies at the UK Fast Growth Awards at ICC Wales in Newport, where 350 of the UK’s fastest growing businesses from seven countries and territories were recognised.
While these opportunities are opportunities to celebrate entrepreneurial achievements, they should also beg more fundamental questions about the future of the Welsh economy, so we have not succeeded in creating the conditions that will allow many of our businesses to follow the same path.
The figures from this year’s UK Fast Growth Index are extraordinary by any measure. Between 2023 and 2025, the 350 companies will increase their combined turnover from £4.3bn to £10.2bn, generating an additional £5.9bn in annual sales in just two years, with an average growth rate of 138%.
This was achieved during a period characterized by higher borrowing costs, rising labor costs, persistent inflation and economic uncertainty, but the business showed that rapid expansion remained possible even in difficult circumstances.
More importantly for Wales, the 50 Welsh companies featured in the index increased their combined turnover from £324m to £756m over the same period, representing growth of over 133%. This outstanding achievement shows that Wales has the entrepreneurial, business and commercial capabilities needed to compete successfully with the rest of the UK.
Having established the original Wales Fast Growth 50 28 years ago, I have spent much of my academic and professional career examining the characteristics of businesses that achieve exceptional growth and the same contribution to economic development.
One of the most surprising findings is that high-growth entrepreneurship is not limited to a specific industry, technology, or location, with successful companies emerging from manufacturing, construction, food production, professional services, retail and many other sectors.
Indeed, this year’s UK Index includes companies that helped clean the Mona Lisa, a confectioner whose Brazil nuts are covered in more than 2,000 layers of chocolate and a game maker whose products have been viewed more than a billion times on TikTok. Such diversity challenges the assumption that economic transformation must rely primarily on attracting large investors or supporting a relatively narrow group of technology businesses, when evidence shows that substantial growth potential already exists in the established business population.
For Wales, this should be an important lesson, because the successful Welsh government has introduced many strategies, programs and institutions intended to support entrepreneurship, encourage investment and strengthen the private sector, but the fundamental challenge of creating a more dynamic and productive business economy remains unresolved.
Indeed, a successful economic development policy must ultimately be judged by the additional economic activity it generates, not just by the resources devoted to delivering it.
The experience of the Fast Growth Index company shows that one of the biggest opportunities to transform the Welsh economy may lie in identifying businesses with the potential to grow rapidly and systematically tackling the barriers that prevent them from doing so. This requires a greater focus on business performance and long-term economic outcomes rather than the administrative output of individual programs.
Of course, access to appropriate finance remains important, especially for businesses that want to invest in new technology, expand production or enter international markets, but the experience of successful growth businesses shows that access to skilled employees, the quality of infrastructure, the speed of planning decisions, the effectiveness of innovation support and the ability to reach new customers may be important in determining whether a promising business can be implemented.
These are issues that go beyond the responsibilities of organizations typically tasked with providing business support and require a more coordinated approach to economic development across governments.
It shows that the most important change to economic policy in Wales is to put the needs of Welsh business at the heart of every major economic decision made by the Welsh Government.
Whether considering investment in education and skills, improving transport infrastructure, reforming planning procedures, developing procurement policies or supporting research and innovation, the basic question should be whether the decision makes it easier for Welsh businesses to invest, expand and compete.
There is also the wider issue of how to recognize entrepreneurial achievements in Wales, where debates about government intervention and public investment sometimes overshadow the contribution of successful business founders.
Behind every Welsh company featured in this year’s index is an individual who has identified a commercial opportunity, accepted considerable personal risk and demonstrated the determination required to build a successful company, often creating significant economic opportunities in the local community.
We should not only celebrate achievements at award ceremonies, but also inform the way we design economic policies, especially if we want to encourage more people to start businesses that can grow beyond the local market.
The extra £432m in annual turnover generated by the 50 Welsh businesses in this year’s Fast Growth Index demonstrates what can be achieved with a relatively small number of ambitious companies and raises the question of what could happen if we could increase the number of companies achieving similar growth over the next decade.
Instead of constantly looking for new initiatives or institutions to solve economic problems, perhaps we should spend more time understanding why these Welsh businesses have succeeded and what needs to change so that more can follow their example.
And while their achievements deserve recognition, their greatest contribution may be showing that the foundations of a stronger Welsh economy are in place, if only we have the ambition to put business growth at the heart of everything we do.