Hotspot For High-Fliers

Bristol is one of the UK's top ten hotspots for fastgrowingbusinesses, new research has revealed.

The city is ranked eighth in a nationwide ranking of areas thatare home to clusters of companies that expand particularly quickly,according to Barclays report Fast Growth Firms - Raising the Bar.

The report examined firms that are at least four years old anddefined fast-growing firms as those that had sales or profits growthof 25 per cent or more a year and were innovative.

Nationally, it found, most fastgrowing firms were in London andthe South East, but outside that area there were distinct hotspots.

In eighth-placed Bristol, 24 per cent, or 134 of the city's 559companies, qualified for the description of fast-growth firms.

The list of hotspot areas was topped by Llandrindod Wells, where33.3 per cent of companies were fast-growing, followed by MiltonKeynes (27.5 per cent), St Albans (24.8 per cent), Leeds (24.7 percent) and Durham (24.6), Telford (24.6) and Luton (24.3).

Bristol was followed in the top ten by Sheffield (23.5) andCambridge (23.5).

The report found entrepreneurs leading the companies were youngerand better-educated than the managers of slow-growth firms.

But far being being the flash wide boys portrayed on TV, theirattitude to business was neither reckless nor brash, it found.

Jeff Pepper, head of small business and start-ups at Barclays inBristol, said: "Fast growth businesses, regardless of their size, arethe vehicle for Britain's elite group of high-octane entrepreneurs.Like the leading Formula One teams they combine effort anddetermination with professionalism and a focus on their goals.

"Similarly, they believe that bringing in the best specialiststaff and harnessing technology can give them a competitive edge overtheir rivals." Fast growth entrepreneurs listed their biggestchallenges as attracting and retaining staff (40 per cent), keepingup to date with technology (37 per cent) and accessing new markets(34 per cent).

In contrast, after attracting and retaining staff (39 per cent),slow growth firms' biggest headache is collecting payments (38 percent).

When asked what the Government could do to help fast growth firms,reducing red tape (21 per cent) and cutting the burden of taxes (14per cent) came top.