Au Vodka is UK’s fastest-growing private firm run by its founders
Spirits company Au Vodka takes the crown as UK’s fastest-growing private company, run by its founders
- Au Vodka was founded eight years ago by Jackson Quinn and Charlie Morgan
- More than a quarter of the firms on FEBE’s list are from London, including Love Cocoa
- About a fifth of start-ups fail within a year and 60% fail within three years
A vodka brand known for selling its products in gold bottles is the UK’s fastest-growing private company led by its founders, according to an influential list.
Swansea-based Au Vodka tops the For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs (FEBE) Growth 100 list, having grown sales at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 457 percent over the past two financial years.
Founded in 2015, the group has seen a surge in demand since the start of the pandemic, as the lockdowns inspired many consumers to spend their extra cash on premium spirits and the company garnered a huge following on social media.
Founders: Au Vodka was founded eight years ago by school friends Charlie Morgan (left) and Jackson Quinn (right) and is backed by DJ Charlie Sloth (center)
Its profile has been enhanced by expanding into supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda and establishing brand partnerships with the likes of boxer Floyd Mayweather, former footballer Ronaldinho and MMA fighter Paddy Pimblett.
Au Vodka was founded eight years ago by school friends Jackson Quinn and Charlie Morgan, recently featured on the Sunday Times Young Rich List with a combined net worth of £110 million, and is backed by DJ Charlie Sloth.
Second on the Growth 100 ranking with a CAGR of 337 percent is ISA Support Services, a security company based in Birmingham, whose services range from watchdogs to CCTV surveillance and mobile patrol services.
Other companies in the top ten include LS Productions, which provides services for film and television shows such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls, vacation package provider Golf Travel Group, and technology platform Gift & Go.
More than a quarter of the firms on FEBE’s list are from London, namely Love Cocoa, whose boss James Cadbury appeared on the popular TV show Dragons’ Den and is descended from the founder of confectionery giant Cadbury.
Outside the capital, 13 companies are based in the South East, 11 in Yorkshire and nine in Scotland. Three are Welsh and only one is from Northern Ireland: coffee shop chain Bob & Berts.
Almost a third of Growth 100 company founders are women, which is about double the share of female-led companies in the UK.
Charlotte Quince, the founder of FEBE, said: ‘So many people think that company founders are just ‘lucky’ or come up with an idea one day and be successful the next.
“But we know that the journey to success is anything but smooth.”
About a fifth of startups fail within a year and 60 percent go bankrupt within three years, according to figures from SME lender Fundsquire.
Quince added, “The Growth 100 celebrates those who have embraced the entrepreneurial roller coaster and are now thriving as one of the fastest growing brands in the country.”
To qualify for the list, companies had to have been trading for at least three years, had a turnover of between £3m and £200m and had an operating profit in the last financial year.