Icelandic Bakkavor is the 25th biggest private company in the UK

Has Iceland officially recovered when it makes people think of a viking clap instead of dodgy banking?

Included in today’s Sunday Times is Top Track, a list of the UK’s 100 biggest privately held companies.

The list is interesting for many reasons. For example, 37 of the 100 companies are owned and run by their founders. This is a record number and almost a third more than when the list was first published 15 years ago. This is truly the age of the entrepreneur.

Another interesting fact, at least if you’re an Icelander like myself, is entry number 25: Bakkavor. Bakkavor produces fresh prepared food (very popular in this household) and sells it to stores like Tescos, Marks & Spenser’s and Waitrose for £1.675 million annually.

The two brothers who founded, own and run Bakkavor were high-flighers in Iceland during the boom years and like others in their shoes they became controversial when the economy crashed.

I guess we have officially recovered from our downfall when the mention of Iceland makes people think of a viking clap from the Euros rather than Icesave and Icelandic entrepreneurs once again grace the pages of the business sections in UK newspapers.