The list, printed in the Sunday Times and compiled by Fast Track, ranks Britain’s private mid-market growth companies by sales.
To qualify for the list, companies must be profitable and report a greater than 10% increase in either sales or operating profit in their latest accounts. Sales must be no more than £628m and are taken from the latest accounts, excluding shares from joint ventures and associate companies.
Pret a Manger ranked fifth in the list with sales of £593.6m, up 16% on its previous year’s sales and operating profit of £28.7m, up 21% on last year’s results. The sandwich shop chain employs 8,750 staff across its 385 stores worldwide.
In sixth place is catering and hospitality group WSH which saw sales increase by 10% to £590.7m and operating profits jump 6% to £24.6m. The group employs 13,278 staff across its brands including BaxterStorey and Benugo.
Nando’s ranked 14th with sales of £535m, a 10% increase on last year’s results, however the operator saw a 6% drop in operating profits to £55.5m. The Group, which owns the Nando’s and GBK brands, employs 10,993 staff in over 1,000 sites worldwide.
Coffee house operator, Caffè Nero ranked 89th in the list with sales of £276m and operating profit of £24.2m. The chain employs 4,194 staff across its 700 sites.
Other restaurant operators to feature in the list included Pizza Hut with sales of £225.5m; wagamama with sales of £193.3m; and Prezzo with sales of £189.9m.
Several of the industries major producers, distributors and manufacturers were also included on the list, including Adelie Foods with sales of £294.7m; catering equipment supplier Nisbets with sales of £226.7m; food distributor Reynolds with sales of 203.5m; and distributor JJ Food Service with sales of 181.7m.