Channel innovates to grow

Piling on the pounds: Profits are rising for Tech Track-listed firms

Channel firms featured in this year’s Tech Track list have stressed the importance of continued investment in innovation, regardless of the economic backdrop.

Put together by Fast Track, The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 ranks the UK’s 100 fastest-growing privately held technology firms. Revenue growth is tracked over the past three years and averaged out. This year’s top dog was e-commerce provider The Hut Group, which has grown turnover by an annual average of 189 per cent to £24m.

Across the 100 companies, average yearly growth stood at 69 per cent, down 12 points on the 2008 figure. Last year’s leader was the Mobile Interactive Group, with 422 per cent average top line growth. All of 2008’s top five posted annual revenue hikes of more than 200 per cent.

However, more of this year’s crop are profitable, with just 19 posting a loss in their most recent results. In 2008, 27 firms were loss-making.

Audiovisual integrator AVM placed 33rd, an improvement of four places on its 2008 rank. Turnover has grown at an annual rate of 71 per cent to £39.1m.

Chief executive Edward Cook said: “This is another outstanding year of growth and this honour really goes to our amazing staff.”

VAR Intrinsic Technology came in at 51, up seven places on last year. The firm has grown sales by 56 per cent per annum to £17.6m.

Intrinsic’s strategic development director Gregg Spooner claimed the VAR had refocused its sales efforts on lucrative markets such as the public sector. Investing in technologies such as high-definition video, unified communications and wireless networking has also been key, he added.

“We are of the size that we can remould the sales team and change things quickly,” he said. “It is a constant exercise in terms of what product lines [to invest in] and how to stay innovative and ahead of our competitors.”

Entanet, the communications arm of distribution firm Enta Group, came 61st for the second year running, with sales up 52 per cent annually to £24.4m. Head of marketing Darren Farnden claimed that Entanet’s continued development of its next generation network and its long-term involvement in the development of BT 21CN were key differentiators.

“We have made some significant investments in building our own infrastructure at a time when others have been trying to cut costs and we have forged ahead,” he said.

“We have seen some customers putting projects on ice and, in a toughening marketplace, you have to try that much harder. We have reinvested in the business to stay at the cutting edge.”

Other channel players making this year’s list include resellers Pirean, Adapt, ControlCircle, Probrand, Onyx and Northgate.

Griffin Internet bettered its 2008 placing by one, coming in at number 70. The ISP has grown revenue by a yearly average of 48 per cent to £14.6m. Chief technology officer Adrian Sunderland claimed the economic downturn, and the resultant scarcity of CapEx, had benefited Griffin and its partners.

“VARs have typically avoided connectivity in the past,” he said. “But with hardware sales down by as much as 30 per cent and many capital projects on hold, the need for new sources of, preferably recurring, revenue is increasing.”