As South West chamber of commerce Business West recently put it, 2022 was “a very tough year” for businesses.
More than half of the leaders of 350 companies in the region that took part in a survey for the Bristol-based chamber said they had been impacted in the last quarter by the political and economic instability that defined much of the previous 12 months.
While the likes of KPMG and the British Chambers of Commerce have forecast the UK economy to remain in a shallow and protracted recession throughout 2023, firms across the land - including in the South West - will be looking to push on with their exciting, innovative plans as best they can.
In the face of 40-year-high inflation, political turmoil in Westminster, the energy crisis and the economic reverberations form the war in Ukraine and Covid-19, there were still a plethora of companies that achieved incredible things last year in the South West, and are planning for even more success in 2023.
Here is a look at a selection of 11 we have picked out who we feel you should keep an eye on over the next 12 months.
Peequal, Bristol
Two Bristol University graduates may have found a solution for a long-standing problem that has blighted women’s enjoyment of festivals and other large events. Peequal, founded by Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane, has developed flatpack, portable women’s urinals, which it says are six times faster to use and produce 98% less carbon than traditional portable toilets.
The company has toured UK festivals, gaining user feedback and tweaking their product, since its founders graduated in 2021. Peequal is hoping its urinals, which are made of recycled sea plastics, will become a common sight at large music events, with 250 units currently under construction and several deals being signed with large-scale festival operators.
Last month the company posted a picture of Ms Probyn and Ms McShane at the Glastonbury Festival site on Worthy Farm in Somerset, where it said they had held “some very exciting conversations”.
Today we had a little trip down to Worthy Farm for some very exciting conversations! #glastonburyfestival pic.twitter.com/Rokas3dOi0
— PEEQUAL (@peequaluk)
The company has already attracted high-profile backers, with Monzo bank co-founder Tom Blomfield and former Gü chief operating officer Sarah Jones among those to contribute to a quarter of a million pounds the group raised in its first investment round. Peequal also took home the Innovation Award at the BristolLive Business Awards 2022, which is run in association with BusinessLive.
Dyson, Wiltshire
It may have moved its global headquarters to Singapore but the household appliances giant is still carrying out much innovative work at its Wiltshire campuses.
The firm - known for its vacuum cleaners and fans - recently gave a behind-the-scenes peak at its base at Hullavington Airfield, during which chief engineer Jake Dyson - the son of billionaire businessman Sir James - said the company was working on new products with “intelligent, self-improving” technology, for “top secret, cutting edge future projects”.
The business is entering the next stage of a multi-billion pound investment plan, as it looks to double its product range and grow research into robotics and artificial intelligence. In March 2023 Dyson will launch its first wearable tech product, a set of air-purifying headphones called The Dyson Zone, which aims to tackle air and noise pollution in urban areas and will retail for £749.
Having launched its largest ever recruitment drive for engineering and digital roles to date last year, including 900 roles based in the UK, it will be worth keeping an eye out for what the company comes out with next.
Ecotricity, Gloucestershire
Last yearthe green energy firm’s owner Dale Vince announced plans to sell the innovative business he founded almost 30 years ago, in order to pursue a political career. He later shelved them, citing “turbulence” in the energy sector.
Mr Vince, who is also the chairman of football club Forest Green Rovers, has said there had “never been a more relevant time to be a green energy company”.
Stroud-based Ecotricity certainly has a lot of major projects on the go, including including the first of two planned solar panel “sun parks” and an £11m mill in Berkshire, designed to “make gas from grass”.
There could be further movement on the firm’s plans for a major development called Eco Park off junction 13 of the M5 in Gloucestershire. Among the proposals are a ‘green tech’ business park, which Ecotricity has said could generate £150m a year for the local economy and create 5,000 jobs, as well as a new 5,000-capacity stadium for Forest Green Rovers.
Cornish Premier Pasties, Cornwall
Named Business of the Year at the Western Morning News Business Awards, Cornish Premier Pasties is now one of the largest producers of Cornish pasties in the world. Started in 2008, it has a team of more than 50 and produces over 40,000 savoury pastries a day.
Like most, the company faced many challenging obstacles during the pandemic but managed to overcome them and has seen sales increase by 55% in the last two years and is expecting to top £7m sales this year after making record sales for ten months in a row.
The company was acquired by Mark Norton in 2020 and combined with its sister business, Prima Bakeries, the group is the fourth-largest manufacturer of Cornish pasties in the world. The company has recently focused on expanding outside of Cornwall with new distributors throughout the UK.
Rovco, Bristol
The Bristol-based technology and renewables company raised millions of pounds in 2022 and agreed a number of major deals.
Founded in 2015, the business provides remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) and hydrographic services to the offshore sector.
In April, Rovco raised £15.2m in a Series B funding round. The fundraise was co-led by financial services giant Legal & General, which invested £8.5m, alongside the venture capital arm of international energy company Equinor. Other participants include existing shareholder Foresight Group and In-Q-Tel, a strategic investor for the US intelligence and defence communities and allied nations.
The company said the funding would support its expansion plans, including in the US and Asia, as well as increasing its presence across Europe.
In the summer, Rovco also bolstered its fleet of ships and agreed to carry out unexploded ordnance investigations on a Dutch wind farm. Last month it struck a major partnership deal with a Japanese wind turbine inspection firm.
Troy, Exeter
Exeter-based Troy has been on a high-growth journey and is now one of the UK's biggest tooling and industrial supplies buying groups.
What started as just supplying cutting and precision engineering tools has grown into hand and power tools; personal protective equipment, hygiene and janitorial products; maintenance, repair and overhaul equipment and products; fasteners and vendor managed inventory services.
It has seen massive growth over the past 12 years, growing from 100 to 400 members and a suppliers list of 12 to around 400. It was shortlisted for Large Business of the Year at this year’s Western Morning News Business Awards.
As well as the group’s collective buying power, Troy now offers services that can help its members compete with trade tool giants like Screwfix and Amazon in terms of range and next day delivery.
Being based at Exeter’s newest office development site is a vote of confidence in the city. Troy was also named shirt sponsor for the Exeter Chiefs in April.
Troy UK acquired THS Group in 2017 and went on to secure £25m funding from Santander before acquiring Applegate Marketplace, the online procurement platform in October. It is also the parent company of United Tooling Solutions which announced a series of acquisitions this year.
Right now, the current economic climate is bringing its own challenges alongside the pandemic recovery and supply chain issues with the Chinese lockdown policy and war in Ukraine.
The drive this year is to offer support for businesses to take an omnichannel approach to selling. Recent launches have included providing members with their own ecommerce websites with Troy providing back-end website technical support and expertise for free.
It also plans international expansion and extending market share in construction and facilities management.
Storm Consultancy, Bath
The award-winning digital technology agency was named the Business of the Year at the BathLive Business Awards 2022.
The company is B Corp certified and has operated on a 4.5-day working week since it was established in 2009 by University of Bath graduates David Kelly and Adam Pope.
The duo, who were also joint winners of the Business Person of the Year accolade at the BathLive Business Awards, have grown Storm into a thriving business over the last 13 years. The firm works with start-ups, scale-ups and innovative corporations to design, develop and bring their ideas to life on the web. It is involved in a number of national and international projects, including the new national Institute of Coding and research into the ethics of Artificial Technology.
Earlier this year, Storm won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for innovation. According to the company, it is the first digital agency in the UK to hold both B-Corp certification and a Queen’s Award.
Mr Kelly said at the time: “To be recognised as one of the most innovative companies in the UK through the Queen’s Award programme is fantastic. It is testimony to the incredible hard work and dedication that our team has put in over the years.”
Pure Electric, Bristol
Millionaire businessman Adam Norris was 33 when he became financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown’s pensions boss. The Somerset-based businessman then supported his racing driver son Lando Norris to plot a course into Formula One. Not content with that, the entrepreneur told BusinessLive last year he was looking to “build another Dyson” with his latest venture, e-scooter brand Pure Electric.
The company has seen a six-fold increase in revenue to £35m over the last two years and smashed a £1m investment target in a private raise just hours before its first crowdfunding campaign.
The Bristol headquartered business has sold 200,000 scooters across Europe, and last year secured a deal with Currys to sell its micro mobility vehicles in 66 of the retail giant's UK and Ireland stores and on its website.
Mr Norris has said he is anticipating a “mass migration” of commuters to e-scooters across the globe, and told BusinessLive in October 2022 he believes the public use of privately owned e-scooters will be legalised in the UK “in the next 12 months”.
Feritech Global, Cornwall
Named SME Business of the Year at the Western Morning News Business Awards, this engineering firm has its sights set on further expanding its global order book.
Earlier this year, Feritech Global secured £1m to continue its growth after the launch of its new innovation centre. Feritech Global carries out geotechnical survey work for marine industry clients around the world, using specialist equipment designed and operated by its own team.
In April, the business opened a new facility on a 3.5-acre site near Falmouth, expanding its manufacturing capabilities and allowing it to tap into the growing offshore wind farm industry.
More than 90% of the company’s products and services are exported, with clients in more than 40 different countries.
Feritech said it would use the seven-figure boost from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) to increase its stock of technical equipment and has ambitions to expand into new territories this year.
Deazy, Bristol
Deazy was founded in 2016 and connects enterprises, venture capital-backed scale-ups and some of Europe’s biggest agencies with development teams. At the beginning of 2022, the company raised £5m in a Series A funding round to accelerate its growth and further build out its development team.
In November, the firm was named among 50 of the fastest-growing tech businesses in the country by Deloitte. It was ranked 13 on the list overall after seeing a 2,615% revenue growth over the last four years - and was named the third fastest-growing company in the South West.
Earlier this year the business, which is based at Runway East on Victoria Street, appointed Ben Morris as its new head of people and culture. It said the move was as part of a “renewed commitment” to its employees ahead of a 12-month period in which it aimed to grow its headcount.
Amschela, Bristol
The luxury handbag company has had a stellar 2022. At the start of the year it was reselected for London Fashion Week. It was the second appearance for the independent Bristol brand, created by self-taught designer Keri Andriana - a former lawyer - in 2017 and launched in 2018.
Ms Andriana established her Redland-based business, which sells clutches, shoulder bags and totes, after attending a local sewing class and watching YouTube tutorials.
Since being established, the company has garnered the attention of Tatler and Vogue, and now has customers all over the UK and a growing international community in the US, Europe and Australia.
In October, the business secured a six-figure sum as part of a Series A funding round. It said at the time it would use the investment to scale its domestic and international market operations - and provide opportunities to young people in the South West. Ms Andriana has become part of an elite group of black female businesswomen in the UK to secure Series A capital investment.
