Bad Wolf is leader of the pack in race for fast-growth top spot
THE maker of fantasy drama His Dark Materials has been revealed as the fastest-growing firm in Wales.
Film and television production company Bad Wolf, which has a huge studio facility in Cardiff, tops this year’s Wales Fast Growth 50 initiative, which ranks the fastest-expanding indigenous businesses in Wales.
In the 20th Wales Fast Growth 50 league table, created by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, Bad Wolf is ranked first for achieving a staggering growth rate of 2,668% from 2016-18, with revenues rising from £1.8m to £50.3m.
Established in 2015 by former BBC executives Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, the firm is continuing to sustain exceptional revenue growth. His Dark Materials, its latest criticallyacclaimed production, is the BBCs most expensive show to date, with the cost shared with the US company HBO. The fantasy drama series started on BBC One last week.
The adaption of Phillip Pullman’s popular series of novels follows on from Bad Wolf’s production of A Discovery of Witches. Another adaption – this time of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness – that Sky One show was a critical and commercial success and a further two series have been commisioned. The second series is currently being filmed.
Also in production is a eight-part drama series called Industry, which is set in the world of international finance.
Prof Jones-Evans said: “Huge congratulations to Bad Wolf, who had the vision to establish their operation here in Wales, for achieving such stellar growth over the past two years.
“From their hugely impressive Wolf Studios Wales in Cardiff Bay, Bad Wolf is revolutionising the TV industry here in the UK and are the driving force behind a renaissance in the creative industries in Cardiff and the rest of Wales.
“With amazing productions such as A Discovery of Witches and now His Dark Materials, the future looks extremely bright for the business, whose impact is also being felt across the wider economy and its substantive supply chain.”
Bad Wolf was revealed as the fastest growing indigenous business at the Wales Fast Growth 50 annual awards dinner, held last night at the Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel in the capital.
Prof Jones-Evans added: “Wales Fast Growth 50 is a celebration of the best that the Welsh business community has to offer and we should all be proud of the success of not only the 50 firms which are the fastest-growing companies in Wales in 2019, but those businesses that have made the list over the last two decades.
“More importantly, these firms are all a beacon of enterprise and innovation, demonstrating – as we have every year since launching Fast Growth 50 back in 1999 – that we have businesses that can compete with the best in the world.”
Since the project was established, the 628 firms that have appeared on the 20 lists are estimated to have created 42,000 jobs and generated an estimated £24bn of additional turnover, much of which is spent in their local areas.
While, inevitably, a small number of Fast Growth 50 firms have fallen by the wayside over the years, the fact that so many are still trading successfully (and regularly return to the list every year) is testament to the hard work of their founders and the teams they have created to grow their businesses sustainably.
Prof Jones-Evans said: “This year’s list generated a collective turnover of £885m in 2018 and employed nearly 3,200 people.
“More importantly, they created an additional £538m in turnover during the period 2016-18 at an average growth rate of 155%.”
He added: “The average age of a fast-growing Welsh firm is 12 years old, with only 10 firms being new (aged five years or less) – showing that scaling up does not just happen after a few years for the majority of companies.
“Indeed, the oldest fast-growing firm in 2019 is the Anwyl Group, a north Wales-based family business which will be celebrating its 90th birthday in 2020 and has extensive plans to expand further over the next
few years.”
Ten firms had a turnover of more than £20m in 2018, with the largest being Trade Centre Group UK with sales of £257m.
The Neath-headquartered car supermarket was also the major job creator between 2016-18, with 494 new jobs, followed by Flexicare (183 jobs) and Spartan Motor Factors (113 employees) – with the latter firm celebrating five consecutive years on the Fast Growth 50 list.
The sectors with most growth firms this year are construction and building services and business-tobusiness services, with the former demonstrating that despite financial constraints across the sector, there is considerable activity across Wales in both the commercial and housing markets.
Geographically, fast-growing firms were to be found in 17 local authority areas, with Cardiff being the main growth hot-spot in with 18 firms
Moreover, the wider Cardiff Capital Region has two-thirds of all firms on this year’s list, emphasising its role as the powerhouse region in the Welsh economy.
Other hot-spots include Bridgend (four firms), Swansea (four) and Mochdre/Colwyn Bay (three).
Economy and Transport Minister Ken Skates said: “The Wales Fast Growth 50 is a celebration of our thriving entrepreneurial culture here in Wales and I am proud of the actions and investment we, as a Welsh Government, have made in creating the right conditions for entrepreneurs and businesses to grow and thrive through, for example, Business Wales and the Development Bank of Wales.”
The 2019 Wales Fast Growth 50 magazine, with profiles of all 50 firms, will be published with the Western Mail next Wednesday.
The list will also appear online at the BusinessLive website.