2018's hard work and endeavours was recently recognised by Welland Power's inclusion into the Virgin and Sunday Times SME Fast Track 100 award, Welland Power's current Managing Director Charlie Farrow was joined by his father and the company's previous MD, John Farrow and fellow company shareholder Emma Corrigan. They are seen here collecting the award on behalf of Welland Power at the former home of Sir Richard Branson, which is currently occupied by his daughter, Holly Branson and family.
The Sunday Times SME Export Track 100 ranks Britain’s 100 small and medium-sized (SME) companies with the fastest-growing international sales over the latest two years. It is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times in May, with an awards dinner in September.
This year's Virgin Fast Track 100 event was hosted by Holly Branson and her father, Sir Richard Branson, who appeared by Video link in an event bringing all the leading British businesses together for a combination of networking, policy discussion and education opportunities focused around a range of business topics. A discussion on the generations with Ben Francis, co-founder & chief brand officer, Gymshark; Rachel Horsefield, CEO, beauty division, The Hut Group; Arian Kalantari, co-founder & director, LADBible Group; Susie Ma, founder & CEO, Tropic Skincare; chaired by Peter Evans, enterprise editor, The Sunday Times. This was preceeded by keynote speakers David Stillman, Gen Z; Callum Negus-Fancey, founder & CEO, Verve; Neil Simpson, director of global business development, BrewDog.
Other big business names present at the event included Five Guys, BrewDog and PureGym, all ranking inside the Top 100 fastest growing companies along with Welland Power.
Welland Power was ranked as the 59th fastest growing UK company in 2018 and has also appeared in the Export Track 100 for the previous two years. The success story of Welland Power is almost unique to the Fast Track due to Welland Power being a long running and established business. Welland Power has been trading and building diesel generators for nearly 70 years but has seen exponential growth in the last 3 years. The growth has been fuelled through not only hard work but also significant investment in both the manufacturing infrastructure side of the business and the training and development of the people who work at Welland Power. In addition the growth of Welland Power has been in a sector of the UK economy largely recognised as in decline, manufacturing and export. Welland Power is extremely proud to buck the trend!
Managing Director Charlie Farrow said "Being recognised with a Fast Track 100 Award is a fantastic way to celebrate all the hard work our team puts in on a daily basis. Welland Power have again grown and to be in the Fast Track 100 for two years running truly is an outstanding achievement. We are extremely proud to be at the forefront of UK manufacturing and British Industry.'
The expansion of Welland Power and the recognition of the Fast Track award is part of a 10 year expansion plan for the company with an ultimate aim of being the largest generating set manufacturer in Europe. The company stands unique in the UK, now handling every part of the manufacture of the generating sets, from initial consultation with the customer through design to manufacture and assembly of every component at the Welland Power UK based factory. This approach has helped Welland Power to maintain high levels of quality whilst gaining greater control of costs and lead times. The key to the success is the quality of the product and the recognition of the brand, Every single Welland Power generating set is UK made and always will be. With new product ranges being launched throughout 2019 and beyond the innovation and expansion of Welland Power is anticipated to continue with inclusion into the Fast Track 100 in future years very much the hope and aim.