UK companies dominate Deloitte’s 2011 EMEA Technology Fast 500 rankings

25 November 2011

London based technology firms dominate this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 500 rankings of the fastest growing technology businesses across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.

Now in its 11th year, the annual Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranks the fastest growing public and private technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies from 24 countries across EMEA. Five of the top six technology companies are based in the capital.

David Halstead, lead Deloitte partner for the Technology Fast 500 rankings which are published today, commented: “This year’s Fast 500 demonstrates the continued dominance of technology companies in London, growing faster than their competitors across the rest of EMEA. The high number (6.8%) of Fast 500 companies based in London demonstrates the importance of the right infrastructure and easy access to overseas markets.

“Innovation will be a key element in growing the UK economy and successful technology companies will have a crucial role to play in this. In addition, the government will need to provide support in order to promote technology-led growth in the UK.”

The highest ranking UK company in the Deloitte Fast 500 is Fixnetix, in second place, having achieved an average growth rate of 24,557% over the past five years. Fixnetix is a market data, trading technology and infrastructure services company, providing solutions for the financial sector. Their services are utilised by traditional investment banks, hedge funds and broker dealers as well as the new generation of high-speed trading firms, with the necessary controls and risk management framework. The company was founded in London in 2006 and its growth has been driven by a massive expansion of computerised and automated trading.

Fixnetix continually invests in R&D and in June 2011, developed a microchip that can execute trades in nanoseconds, replacing the need for separate software. The chip is able to process trades at 740 nanoseconds. Speed is vital in the fast moving trading industry as hundreds of thousands of deals are done every second.

Paul Ellis, the company’s Chief Operating Officer and co-founder said: “We are the only company with leading technology across all asset classes.”

Fixnetix is expanding rapidly, building on its success in Europe and expanding its current portfolio of products and capabilities into Asia and the US. Ellis is feeling confident and excited about the future. He said: “To succeed in the technology sector, you need to listen to your customer and understand the business drivers. The key is combining the right technology and people with a commercial framework, that customers are happy with, then you will continue to grow even in the toughest economic climate.”

They are followed in the ranking fellow London businesses LeadPoint UK, GPEG International Ltd, PKR and RatedPeople.com, in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively. Overall, there are 86 UK technology companies ranked in the Fast 500, and 6.8% of the 500 are based in London.

A Turkish firm, Logic Bilisim, secured the overall top spot in the ranking, producing a five-year growth rate of 28,617 percent. Based in Istanbul, the firm specialises in providing mobile technology infrastructure.

David Halstead adds: “Deloitte is proud to showcase some of the EMEA region’s most successful companies, which have continued to thrive in this period of economic recovery. Congratulations to top-ranked Logic Bilisim, and to all of the companies on the list—their collective success is testament to their continued focus on the needs of their clients and their people.”

Fatih Ozkentli, CEO of Logic Bilisim, said: “Logic is a growing company in a rising market and we continually invest in our business and our people – but only when the time is right.

“Customer happiness is integral to what we do – companies cannot survive for long enough and experience healthy growth without focusing on customer satisfaction.”

Top 10 ranked companies 2011:

Average growth rates rise
The average five-year revenue growth rate in this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 500 TM EMEA ranking is 20,401 percent for the top five companies and 1,287 percent for the top 500. This was a significant increase on the 2010 growth figures of 14,027 percent for the top five and 1,192 percent for the full ranking.

Geographic Trends
France has the highest concentration of Technology Fast 500 TM EMEA companies with 93, followed by the UK with 86. France was also highest in 2010. Four of the UK companies feature in the top five.

Sector Trends
The software sector made up 40 percent of the overall list with 202 companies. Internet was the second most represented sector (20 percent), followed by telecommunications / networking (16 percent), semiconductors /components / electronics (eight percent), biotech / pharmaceutical / medical equipment (six percent), greentech (four percent),  computers / peripherals (three percent), and media / entertainment (three percent).

Five of the top 10 companies were from the Internet sector. The greentech sector continued to grow, represented by 20 companies in the 2011 ranking compared to 14 in 2010.

The sector winners are as follows:

The full list of ranked companies as well as additional detail on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500TM program can be found at www.deloitte.co.uk/fast500emea.

Ends

Notes to editors
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 TM is one of the most objective rankings to focus on the technology industry. Entrants must have been in business for at least five years and had base-year operating revenues of at least €50,000 and current year operating revenues of at least €800,000. The ranking is complemented by exclusive interviews with the CEOs of the top five companies, as well as the sector winning firms, to gain a primary insight into the driving forces behind their company’s success.

Historical Average Revenue Growth Rate (over five years)

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 TM EMEA Winners Report and Ranking 2011
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.

It can be downloaded from www.deloitte.co.uk/fast500emea from November 25.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA programme is the region’s most objective industry-ranking standard to focus on the technology field and is now celebrating its 11th year. The programme recognises technology companies that have achieved the fastest rates of revenue growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the past five years. Combining technological innovation, entrepreneurship and rapid growth, Fast 500 companies – large, small, public and private – span a variety of industry sectors, and are leaders in hardware, software, telecom, semiconductors, internet, media and entertainment, life sciences and greentech.

The programme is supported by the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 initiatives, which rank high growth technology companies by location or specifically defined geographic area and is run by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) global industry group. Co-sponsors include Taylor Wessing, a leading International law firm with a focus on the industries of tomorrow, and Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, a venture and growth capital investor which backs entrepreneur with aspiration for greatness in the IT and clean technology sectors across Europe. Frequently asked questions and details of the winning companies, including breakdowns by country, industry sector and ranking, will be available on www.deloitte.co.uk/fast500emea.

About TMT
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group consists of TMT practices organised in the various member firms of DTTL. It includes more than 7,000 partners and professionals from around the world, 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 in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. DTTL’s member firms serve 92 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, semiconductor foundries, wireless operators, cable companies, advertising agencies, and publishers.

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte LLP, which is among the country's leading professional services firms.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, whose member firms are legally separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.

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