28 Compu b

Revenue: £142.4m (+27%)

Net profit: -1.6% Staff: 465

Having acquired leading UK counterpart Stormfront in September 2019, this Irish Apple Premium Reseller (which already had a concession in Selfridges in London), generated revenues of £142.4m in its year to 31 March 2020 (compared with £139.7m in the previous 15-month period). Some £96.5m of the total was drawn from the UK. Its impending fiscal 2021 accounts are likely to tell a different story, however, after two national lockdowns forced it to repeatedly shutter its network of stores.

Covid impact

The pandemic hit Compu b harder than almost any other Top VAR last year, resulting in a stint under Irish ‘examinership' from July to October 2020. It admitted in its annual accounts that it had been "particularly susceptible" to the government restrictions, but expressed hope that trading will improve in 2021.