Founder: Tracey Bovingdon
Founded: May 2010 (launched April 2011)
Website: www.tea-monkey.com

Has the UK really ditched the tea to become a nation of coffee drinkers? A look down any town centre high street would certainly suggest so, but Tracey Bovingdon believes that among the frappucinos and macchiatos, there’s space in consumers’ hearts and wallets for a chain devoted entirely to the good old cuppa. Offering over 40 different types of tea in each café, along with coffees and fresh food, Tea Monkey so far has found success with a partial franchise model, with 60% of its stores being driven by franchisees. Enquiries have also been received from international partners, an area of future expansion along with a ‘hospitalitea’ (or wholesale) range. The business has so far grown with the help of private equity investment, and Bovingdon has focused on setting the brand apart with its range of teas, quality food and family-friendly ethos. 

Founders: Kevin Flood and Mike Harty
Founded: September 2011
Website: www.powerlinks.com

Powerlinks made our 2012 list for its proposition that looked set to change the way the marketing world viewed affiliate advertising – and the company has continued to develop its potential over the last year, with its automated system that converts a site’s text and images into relevant links now in operation on more than 600 websites. As the only in-content ad server and ad exchange provider, Powerlinks has secured some established clients, including high-profile publishers such as Net Communities, IDG and the Racing Post in the UK whilst across the Atlantic it has already gained a hugely influential customer in Major League Baseball. The next 12 months are set to be an exciting time for the young company as it prepares to roll out its product across the USA as well as conclude deals with some ‘major players’ in the UK digital advertising industry. 

Founders: Gill Hayward and Kellie Forbes
Founded: May 2010
Website: www.yuuworld.com 

The success of Dragons’ Den backed YUUworld’s children’s backpacks (YUUbags) and accessorises is down to the marketing channels the business utilises as much as the innovative products themselves; a direct reflection of the complementary backgrounds of marketing professional Gill Hayward and co-founder and mother-of-two Kellie Forbes. It was Forbes who dreamt up the idea of a ‘desk in a bag’ to keep children entertained, while Hayward’s previous career at Viacom exploring advertising opportunities for start-ups led to the YUUworld brand advertising via a clever, and extremely effective, shared risk marketing partnership with Nickelodeon. Rather than sacrifice hefty margins to stockists, the co-founders decided to create their own distribution channel, with adverts driving consumers directly to YUUworld.com. So far, over 25,000 YUU and YUUtuu activity backpacks have been sold directly to customers via YUUworld.com since launch less than three years ago. With plans to extend their product range and roll-out the YUU model globally, the duo have created a model that seems set to last.

Founder: Jude Ower
Founded: 2011 (Launched October 2012)
Website: www.playmob.com

Games industry veteran Jude Ower got the idea for Playmob after seeing the runaway success of popular Facebook game Farmville’s campaign for victims of the Haiti earthquake, which saw creators Zynga raise $1.5m for the cause in just five days. Speaking to developers about why this did not happen more, it became apparent that the time, resource management and legal issues were just too great for studios to easily introduce a charity element into their games; and so Ower created a unified platform that would deal with these issues, allowing developers to integrate a campaign into their games within as little as 20 minutes. From the player’s point of view, Ower realised that one thing that gamers crave is a tangible sense of achievement for their efforts and so the Playmob platform also feeds back to the player so they can see exactly what they have done and where. Less than a year after launch, Playmob’s formula is already making a significant impact; with arguably the largest publisher in the business EA Games signed up as a partner, Playmob’s in-game microtransactions have raised more than £41,000 for good causes so far. The business has ambitious plans to raise $1bn for global causes in three years and expansion into the USA is planned soon. 

Founders: Christoph Rieche and James Dear
Founded: March 2012
Website: www.iwoca.co.uk

For businesses making most of their sales from online stores such as eBay and Amazon, obtaining funding for growth is a daunting prospect – banks are often reluctant to lend as revenues are small and most online retailers have no large assets to secure loans against. But ecommerce is fast becoming big business, with the sector seeing year-on-year double-digit growth as more and more of the retail world moves online. Small business loans company Iwoca aims to take advantage of this by uniquely offering online retailers loans based on metrics such as their sales performance and feedback score from customers, allowing small ecommerce retailers to access finance they would find it difficult to obtain elsewhere. The business has received rave reviews from its customers and turned over £75,000 in its first year. With the platform now firmly established, the founders have ambitious plans to quickly scale up the business with a revenue target of £1m for 2013. 

Founders: Tom Lawton, Peter Corke, Stuart Varrall, Rob Todd and Gareth Edwards
Founded: April 2011 (launched September 2012)
Website: https://bubblepix.com/

The idea for BubblePix was first born when founder Tom Lawton travelled to India and longed to be able to bottle up and share his experiences via an image that had multiple perspectives. Created on the basis that ‘the world isn’t flat’, BubblePix enables users to capture and share immersive 360º images or videos in under a minute using simply their phone and an additional accessory, a ‘BubbleScope’. These recordings or ‘bubbles’ can then be uploaded and shared with the world in an environment which the founders say is ‘disrupting and democratising an old fashioned industry’. With a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter underway, a growth rate of 10,000 users a month and a new ‘gamechanging’ product coming soon, we predict big things for this innovative start-up. 

Founders: Algy Williams and Michael Jenkins
Founded: January 2010
Website: www.every1mobile.net

Headquartered in the UK but with offices in Cape Town, Every1Mobile is a digital advertising business with a difference. Using mobile-enabled social networks, the social enterprise delivers information on a range of topics including education, health and employment to communities of young people across Africa in order to achieve social good and engage large groups of people. Algy Williams and Michael Jenkins started the business after realising that there was an opportunity to provide large-scale social impact and make money in a continent that accounts for 10 of the top 20 fastest growing economies of the world. With £1.1m backing from business angels so far and clients including the likes of Thomson Reuters, CNN and the European Union, the company has a lot of exciting things in its pipeline. Not only is it planning a new funding round but it is also looking to partner with several major government and international departments. There are also plans to expand in no less than four territories over the coming months with site visitors expected to hit the six million mark. 

Founders: Aden Levin and Rob Tominey
Founded: September 2011
Website: http://mainstagetravel.co.uk/

Once in a lifetime clubbing holidays for young people starting from £120? Sound too good to be true? Well, not anymore. Created out of Aden Levin and Rob Tominey’s desire to revolutionise travel for the 18-24 market, the young founders spotted a business opportunity for affordable holidays whilst in Ibiza. The company now has three ‘cool and aspirational’ offerings: ‘Magaluf Takeover’, ‘Ayia Napa Takeover’ and its ski festival, ‘Snowboxx,’ with Ibiza, Malia and Zante Takeover all being added to their portfolio for 2014.  All the trips are a massive hit with youngsters nationwide with over 15,000 people holidaying through the company so far. Projecting a turnover of £1.8m for the next financial year, the business credits its growth to both its price point and the value of its packages, arguing that competitors can’t match the combination of events and destinations that it provides. Currently in the process of obtaining an ATOL so that it can deliver both holidays and flights to guests, the company is also planning to expand its reach to new destinations.

Founders: Jonathan Brown, Ian Oxley and James Blackburn
Founded: August 2012 (Launched September 2012)
Website: www.gpslocums.co.uk

Launched just under a year ago, GPS Locums supplies 100% compliant locum doctors from junior to senior level into the NHS and private sector. Created in an established industry with plenty of competitors, the company has managed to prove their market potential with impressive figures, citing   a current run rate of £1.5m. Offering their clients a fresh approach to recruitment and a ‘first class service’, the founders are making a name for themselves in a crowded market. With Jonathan Brown and Ian Oxley possessing over 13 years combined experience in the recruitment arena their main intention was to change popular perceptions of the industry by creating a brand that looks to ‘treat people as individuals’, not as numbers, and the company’s friendly approach is clearing proving popular. Set for huge growth over the next year, turnover is projected at £2.5m and there are also plans to double employee numbers. 

Founders: Jamie Lester and Amin Omidi
Founded: June 2011 (launched November 2011)
Website: www.hausproperties.co.uk

Co-founder Jamie Lester has come a long way since appearing in the 2010 series of The Apprentice. With 16 years of experience in property he was all too aware of the negative stereotypes dominating the industry and was embarrassed by a lack of ‘sophisticated marketing techniques, offices and technology’. Out of this frustration, he joined with co-founder Amin Omidi to launch an agency that would fill a gap in the market for an ‘open and candid’ service and look to alter the reputation of estate agents. Just two years on and it appears that West London-based Haus Properties has achieved its founder’s goals and was this year voted one of the UK’s top 20 best small estate agents after being secretly shopped by The Daily Telegraph. The company has already helped over 129 people to sell or rent homes and is on target to secure revenue figures of £1.3m this year. Not only is the business focused on being ‘customer-led’ but it is also community-minded and has so far donated approximately £14,000 to local schools and charities. With plans to open a fourth agency later this year Haus Properties, listed as ‘Best Innovation’ agency by the Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year Awards, is gradually on its way to transforming the property sector.