23. Buy IT

Key points

Revenue: £146.5m (+21%)

Net profit: 0.8%

Staff: 322

This Huddersfield-based e-tailer grew revenues by over a fifth in its year to 31 March 2017, but net profits virtually halved to £1.2m as a recent infrastructure investment hit its bottom line. CEO Nick Glynne recently told us that its 2018 numbers will show revenue of £182.3m, with most of the growth driven by IT sales. Its brands include Laptops Direct, Drones Direct and Furniture 123.