London, November 27, 2007 – Deloitte announced the full list of EMEA’s 500 fastest-growing technology companies during the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA awards on November 26. Deloitte also released the 2007 Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey & Ranking—a comprehensive analysis of the business trends and background statistics of the winning companies and a summary of the key concerns and expectations of sector CEOs.

Key trends observed in this year’s ranking were:

• The United Kingdom has the most ranked companies with 91 of the 500, closely followed by France with 68.
• Israeli firms take first, second and third place.
• Average five-year revenue growth for all companies is 1,443 percent, the highest since the awards began.
• Survey of Fast 500 CEOs reveals that 79.5 percent of this year’s CEOs were extremely or very confident of managing the same growth rates over the coming two years.
• The software sector continues to dominate the ranking, making up 200 of the 500 companies. 
• However, as evidenced by the exceptional performance of Israel, tech-acceleration nations are emerging. Proportional to population numbers, technology firms in Norway, Israel, Sweden, Ireland, Finland and Holland are in a class of their own when it comes to technology acceleration, with high-growth technology firms between 2 and 5 times more common than anywhere else in the region.
• While the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA shows a consistent increase in average growth rates year on year, this is in stark contrast to that of the North America Fast 500, where average growth rates have been falling since 2001. Fast 500 North America shows average five year revenue growth rates falling from a peek of 6,772 percent in 2002 to 1,823 percent in 2007.

The top five ranked companies and percentage growth:

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 CEO Survey overview
In addition to compiling the Technology Fast 500 ranking, Deloitte today published a survey of the Fast 500 CEOs in EMEA. Some of the key trends are:

• Despite wider economic turbulence, confidence is high. Of this year's surveyed CEO's, 79.5% were extremely or very confident of managing the same growth rates over the coming two years, which is the second highest level in seven years.
• Good technology people are becoming harder to come by. Finding, hiring and retaining qualified employees is the greatest operational challenge for just under half of CEOs, significantly up on previous years.
• Offshoring of key functions is on the cards. While 13.4 percent of firms currently employ more than15 percent of their workforce abroad, CEOs see this figure rising to 46.6 percent within 5 years.

"The current financial turbulence and economic uncertainty does not appear to have made the front-runners in the technology race in EMEA either slow their pace or lose their focus," said Igal Brightman, Global Managing Partner of Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) industry group. "These businesses are successfully managing exponential growth and, in particular, finding the right people in the right places to drive that growth."

"This is the seventh year of the ranking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the more data we have the more interesting trends emerge," said Eric Morgain, Deloitte’s partner in charge of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. "The United Kingdom led again this year in terms of overall numbers, closely followed by France. But we are also seeing a club of technology acceleration nations emerging, which includes Israel, Scandinavia, Ireland and the Netherlands, where successful technology businesses are many times more likely to succeed."

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA CEO Survey & Ranking 2007
This report is a comprehensive analysis of the business trends and background statistics of the winning companies as well as a summary of the key concerns and expectations of sector CEOs. A copy of the report is available for download from the Technology Fast 500 EMEA web site.

About Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA program is the region’s most objective industry-ranking standard to focus on the technology field.  It was created in 2001 to recognize the effort and dedication of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in EMEA and includes all areas of technology, from internet to biotechnology, from medical and scientific to computers and hardware. It includes both public and private companies. The awards, which have been running in EMEA for seven years, are based on five-year average percentage revenue growth. For more information as well as details of the winning companies, including breakdowns by country, industry sector and ranking, visit the Technology Fast 500 EMEA web site. This year's program has been supported by UK Trade & Investment.

About Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT)
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group consists of the TMT practices organized in the various member firms of DTT and includes more than 6,000 member firm partners, directors and senior managers supported by thousands of other professionals dedicated to helping their clients evaluate complex issues, develop fresh approaches to problems and implement practical solutions. There are dedicated TMT member firm practices in 45 countries and centers of excellence in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. DTT’s member firms serve nearly 90 percent of the TMT companies in the Fortune Global 500. Clients of Deloitte's member firms' TMT practices include some of the world’s top software companies, computer manufacturers, wireless operators, satellite broadcasters, advertising agencies and semiconductor foundries—as well as leaders in publishing, telecommunications and peripheral equipment manufacturing.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in more than 140 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of approximately 150,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas—audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services—and serves more than 80 percent of the world’s largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients, and successful, fast-growing global companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

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