Au Vodka is UK’s fastest-growing private firm run by its founders

A vodka brand known for selling its products in golden bottles is the UK’s fastest-growing privately-held company led by its founders, according to an influential list.

Swansea-based Au Vodka has topped the For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs (FEBE) Growth 100 list, having seen turnover jump by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 457 per cent over the past two financial years.

The group, founded in 2015, has seen demand soar since the pandemic started as lockdowns inspired many consumers to spend their spare cash on premium spirits and the company amassed a massive social media following.

Its profile has been enhanced by expanding into supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda and forging branding partnerships with the likes of boxer Floyd Mayweather, former footballer Ronaldinho and MMA fighter Paddy Pimblett.

Au Vodka was started eight years ago by school friends Jackson Quinn and Charlie Morgan, who were featured on the recent Sunday Times Young Rich List with a collective net worth of £110million, and is backed by DJ Charlie Sloth.

Second on the Growth 100 league table with a 337 per cent CAGR is ISA Support Services, a security business based in Birmingham, whose services range from guard dogs to CCTV monitoring and mobile patrol services.

Other companies in the top ten include LS Productions, who provide services for film and television shows, such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls, holiday package provider Golf Travel Group and technology platform Gift & Go.

Over a quarter of firms on FEBE’s list are from London, namely Love Cocoa, whose boss James Cadbury appeared on the hit television show Dragons’ Den and is descended from the founder of confectionery giant Cadbury.

Outside the capital, 13 businesses 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 founders of Growth 100 companies are women, which is roughly double the share of female-led firms in the UK.

Charlotte Quince, the founder of FEBE, said: ‘So many people think that business founders just ‘get lucky’ or think of an idea one day and are 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 per cent go under 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 who are now thriving as some of the fastest growing brands in the country.’ 

To qualify for the list, firms had to have traded for at least three years, earned turnover of between £3million and £200million, and made an operating profit in the last financial year.