Bristol Post

Landmark revenue City’s top 200 firms increase turnover to £15.5bn

- Hannah BAKER Business editor hannah.baker@reachplc.com

BRISTOL’S top 200 privately owned businesses achieved a landmark amount of revenue last year, according to new data. The research by Grant Thornton UK found the firms had increased overall turnover by 33% to reach £15.5bn.

The inaugural Bristol Limited report analysed private companies in the region and highlighte­d the city’s top businesses as measured by annual turnover and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciati­on and amortisati­on).

The report found overall profits had also increased, with the combined EBITDA of the city’s 200 most-profitable privately owned businesses rising by 7.4% compared to 2022, totalling £712m.

Energy company Ovo Group took the top spot for highest turnover. By profit, legal advisors TLT ranked number one.

Bristol’s business support services sector contribute­d the highest proportion of overall revenue. It achieved a total turnover of £4bn – a 28% increase on the previous year.

This included a significan­t amount of profit, with EBITDA growing by 18% to hit £372m.

The consumer market was the second-largest sector by revenue in 2023, with an 18% increase in turnover from 2022 to £2.1bn.

Dairy company Yeo Valley Production ranked first in the sector and recorded Bristol’s fourth-largest overall turnover.

The businesses analysed for the report employ nearly 60,000 people in the city. Some sectors saw particular­ly significan­t increases in their headcount over the past year, including the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry which saw a 39% growth in employees to 2,852.

One of the top-ranked businesses in the TMT sector was Aardman Holdings – the makers of Wallace and Gromit – which is majority owned by its employees following a sale of 75% of the shares to an employee ownership trust in 2018.

Nick Jones, Bristol-based director at Grant Thornton UK, said: “As someone living in Bristol and advising the privately owned companies in the region, it’s fantastic to see the local businesses continuing to perform so strongly despite the challengin­g economic environmen­t they have had to operate in.”

Grant Thornton also pointed out that Bristol is home to several large private equity firms and investors, including Bristol-based BGF and LDC, which have together invested nearly £800m in the South West economy.

Similarly, Maven and FW Capital manage the South West Investment Fund for the region, as launched by the British Business Bank recently.

“As a leading economic centre, Bristol has many advantages compared to other regions which will have helped its businesses to thrive,” Mr Jones added.

“The city is home to a diverse breadth of industries and, thanks to being a highly desirable place to live, these companies can draw upon a rich and skilled talent pool.”

❝ It’s fantastic to see the local businesses continuing to perform so strongly despite the challengin­g economic environmen­t they have had to operate in.”

Nick Jones, director at Grant Thornton

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