10 smart British companies that are truly out there, selling to the world
In an interview given to the FT, outgoing trade minister Francis Maude said we needed more British companies to be “out there, much more ‘salesy’ and punting our stuff.”
He’s right. The UK trade gap continues to yawn more widely than me before my first cup of tea.
One important initiative to tackle this is the brand new Mayor’s International Business Programme, which is focused on supporting the international growth ambitions of fast-growing, London-based companies operating in three broad sectors — technology, life sciences, and urban infrastructure.
I scoured ten companies in these three sectors who are doing exactly this. There are many others in the capital, of course, but if you are looking for role models for international growth then these are outstanding ones.
It’s not all tech
They aren’t all shiny new tech businesses. In fact, they didn’t need to be new at all. Several are mature, expert, professional advisory companies.
Butterworth Laboratories (@ButterworthLabs)was founded in 1974 in Teddington by Doris Butterworth, who remains its MD. The 60-strong company provides independent, contract analytical services to the global pharmaceutical and related industries, ensuring the quality and safety of medicines, their ingredients and medical devices. It’s a world-leader in its field.
Jestico + Whiles (@jesticowhiles) was founded by Tom Jestico and John Whiles nearly 40 years ago. The Euston-based RIBA-award winning firm is now a leading player in the UK architectural scene. It’s completed major projects from schools in Muscat to nanoscience research facilities in Sydney, and from sustainable resorts in Zanzibar to villas in the Czech Republic. It has won numerous plaudits for work in urban regeneration, refurbishment and sustainable thinking. It has notched up a 42 per cent average international growth rate over the past two years and featured in the 2015 Sunday Times Fast Track SME Export 100.
The average international growth rate over the past two years at pharmaceutical advisory firm Kinapse (@kinapseglobal) is a whopping 76 per cent, putting the firm 28th in the 2015 Sunday Times Fast Track SME Export 100. It counts nine of the world’s top ten pharma companies and regulatory organisations as its customers, including Pfizer, GSK, Merck Serono, Johnson & Johnson and the European Medicines Agency. Based in Wimbledon, Kinapse currently employs more than 500 people in the UK, US and India, with a model that brings together people in virtual teams across a wide range of R&D domains.
Driven by density
Other, newer companies could only have started in a dense city like London.
Fuelled by London’s commitment to open data, Citymapper (@Citymapper) “makes dumb cities smart.” Its transport app is one of the most downloaded and acclaimed in the world, and is changing the face of transportation in global cities.
The self-styled “Wikipedia for parking,” Parkopedia (@Parkopedia) houses a database of 150,000 off-street parking facilities in 6,300 cities, with information on more than 38 million parking spaces in 75 countries. With the global smart parking market forecast to grow at more than 30 per cent annually over the next four years, Parkopedia is in the driver’s seat for growth.
From cars to feet — seven-year-old Pavegen (@Pavegen) manufactures and develops flooring that harnesses the energy of footsteps, converting their wasted kinetic energy into renewable electricity. Its technology has been installed in over 100 projects in more than 30 countries — in train stations, shopping centres, airports and public spaces. What started from a bedroom in South London now has a 30-strong team with presence in South Korea, Japan, Australia and the US.
Others reflect the city’s role as global hub.
Southwark-based Reevoo (@reevoo) manages the collection, analysis and display of user-generated content for over 300 of the world’s leading brands. It has developed a ratings & reviews and UGC collection platform for global corporations, and with annual international sales growing at a healthy 44 per cent clip over the past two years, the company is seeking to expand into Asia-Pacific and the US.
Translate Plus (@translate_plus) is now one of the top 60 language services providers in the world by revenue (out of a marketplace of over 40,000 providers),providing a slew of translation services — from website localisation and multilingual SEO to transcription and voiceover — in more than 200 languages. Headquartered on the Islington/City boundary, with overseas offices in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Japan and Bulgaria, translate plus has clients from more than 1,000 brands spanning 90 countries — and its staff roster takes in over 40 nationalities.
Of course, others defy my neat little classifications.
Technology Will Save Us (@techwillsaveus) was founded in 2012 by tech-savvy designers Bethany Koby & Daniel Hirschmann. It is bringing toys into the 21st century. “Success for us is empowering young people and parents to get hands on with technology” says Koby.
TWSU has been global from the beginning. It has already shipped its products to more than 80 countries and about half of their kits are destined for the US market, which includes a high-profile partnership with New York’s Museum of Modern Art Design Store, which also acquired one of TWSU’s DIY Gamer Kits for its permanent design collection in 2014.
And then there is Touch Surgery, (@TouchSurgery) which is as sharp as any scalpel. With more than 800,000 downloads and a constantly growing library of procedures, their simulation app for surgeons is now used by over 200,000 surgeons in every country on earth.
The company won the 2015 Founders Forum Smart Nation Rising Star award for its free iOS and Android app’s surgical simulations, which are improving the quality and accessibility of surgical training. It’s been described as “an innovative learning tool that…can help surgeons at all levels of their careers” and as “an exciting platform for surgeons to share their experiences of challenging operations and to rehearse and learn new techniques.”
Already being used in leading US hospitals, Touch Surgery is officially the largest community of surgeons practising and rehearsing virtual surgery and it plans on becoming the leading surgical learning tool across all platforms. I’m looking forward to meeting this company soon.
