Peterborough companies star among UK’s best performing businesses

Andrew Killingsworth, founder and chief executive of Yours Clothing.

They have been ranked for their sales performance in the Sunday Times Top Track 250 league table - compiled just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The results are for companies whose financial years ended at various points during 2019 but the compilers say the table highlights the businesses continuing contribution to the economy at an intensely difficult time.

The three are the digital provider of insurance and price comparison services, the BGL Group, based in Bakewell Road, Orton, Southgate, plus-sized fashion chain Yours Clothing, of Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, and construction and waste specialists Mick George, based in Huntingdon.

Matthew Donaldson, chief executive of BGL during the period covered by the Sunday Times Top Track 250 league table.

In addition, contractor MPB Structures, based in Martins Way, Peterborough, and winner of the Peterborough Telegraph Larger Business of the Year award two years ago, has made its first appearance in the league table.

They feature among 250 illustrious mid-market private companies that have a combined sales growth of 17 per cent to £59.7 billion with operating profits rising by 25 per cent to £5.1 billion and employee numbers rising by 15 per cent to 405,000.

The BGL Group, which employs 2,852 staff across the UK, has been ranked in fifth place - down one place on last year - with sales of £714 million and profits of £172 million to the end of June 2019.

It is the first time in the top 250 for Yours Clothing, which has 1,319 staff, and enjoyed sales of £106 million and profits of £13 million for the 12 months to the end of February last year. The business is ranked in 247 position.

The pandemic had a huge impact on Yours Clothing, with founder Andrew Killingsworth branding the enforced closure of retailers during the lockdown as unfair. He said it had cost the company a ‘colossal’ £22 million lost sales.

As Yours Clothing sought to revive its fortunes, Mr Killingsworth announced last month that he had brought the iconic women’s fashion retailer Long Tall Sally.

Construction services provider Mick George has enhanced its standing in the table moving up from 178th position last year to 116th.

For the year to the end September last year, the company, which has 1,231 staff, had sales of £192 million and profits of £12 million.

MPB Structures, which has 84 staff and its HQ in Corby, saw its sales hit £120 million - a rise of 30 per cent - and profits at £5.4 million - also up 30 per cent - for the year to June 2019.

The table also highlights the companies positive responses to the ongoing health crisis.

For example, the BGL Group launched a £1.5 million campaign to support community causes affected by the pandemic while Mick George worked for free on a new Covid-19 testing laboratory at the University of Cambridge.

The three companies appear in the table alongside businesses from around the UK, including Barbour, BrewDog and Gymshark.

Arif Ahmad, a Private Business Partner at PwC UK, the title sponsor of the league table, said: “There’s no doubt that 2020 has posed unprecedented challenges.

“But time and again, we’ve seen business leaders rising to that challenge, adapting their plans and taking the opportunity to innovate.

“This year, it’s more important than ever to recognise and congratulate the companies featured in the Top Track 250.

“They are the backbone of the UK economy and it’s our pleasure to work with them, at every stage of their journeys.”

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