Founders: James Layfield and Steve Pette
Founded: May 2011
Website: www.centralworking.com

James Layfield and Steve Pette’s membership-based club for start-ups, which provides the infrastructure, support and systems entrepreneurs need when starting a business, has seen impressive growth since making our 2012 list. Named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2012, having set up five successful businesses, Layfield knows what it takes to start and grow a business and is determined to ensure Central Working offers so much more than just desk space, a huge part of its appeal. It opened its third ‘hub’ in Shoreditch six months ago –set to cater for 22,000 digital businesses over the next five years – and more locations across the capital are planned. The company’s financial growth has been equally impressive, posting revenues of £850,000 in 2012 with £3m turnover predicted for the end of this year, leading to Central Working’s recent listing on the prestigious Accelerate 250 index of Britain’s fastest-growing companies. With London becoming an increasingly attractive location for young, experimental tech businesses, Central Working is perfectly placed to offer them the support they need.

Founders: Sam Furr and Ben Hogan
Founded: February 2011 (launched July 2012)
Website: www.the-app-developers.co.uk

Co-founders and ‘passionate geeks’ Sam Furr and Ben Hogan started out making mobile apps for their own enjoyment; but this passion turned into a viable business after the two-man team were featured on the BBC’s Be Your Own Boss programme, where they were mentored by Innocent Drinks’ Richard Reed and received £3,000 seed capital investment. The exposure created by the programme has allowed the business to grow hugely in less than a year of trading; making apps and games for clients ranging from private individuals to household names such as Walkers, PepsiCo and Carling, and smashing its expected turnover target by more than 300%. The duo have hired a ‘mastermind’ team of staff and recently moved into a much larger office; the company has also begun developing some in-house apps which have the potential to create even larger returns. 

Founder: Adam Baker
Founded: August 2010
Website: www.blottr.com

User-generated news service Blottr has enjoyed another strong year of growth since being featured in Startups 100 in 2012, generating revenues of £775,000 last year – and with ambitious plans to turnover £3.6m in 2013. Serial tech entrepreneur Adam Baker founded Blottr in 2010, following frustration with the time it took for major media outlets to break news stories due to a lack of resources. The service enables eyewitnesses to submit first-hand reports of breaking news events, which are then verified by Blottr and syndicated to major newsrooms around the world – cutting out the need to send reporters to cover stories. Since launch the company has worked on gaining trust with the mainstream media through its proprietary verification method, which allows it to break news stories in almost real-time, and Blottr now works with more than 70 newsrooms globally including Channel 4, Sky News and LA Times. Since early 2012 its contributor network has almost trebled in size and the service plans to expand further; recently opening an office in New York with plans for expansion into Asia, Africa and South America by 2014. 

Founders: Christopher Baker-Brian, Mansoor Mohammad Hamayun and Laurent Van Houke
Founded: March 2010 
Website: www.bboxx.co.uk

Following its entry at number 23 in the Startups 100 last year, BBOXX continues to enjoy unparalleled growth with its unique portable solar energy offering – delivering electricity to off-grid locations in developing countries across the world. Its franchise model has allowed the company to continue its rapid expansion over the last year and its product is now found in 14 markets worldwide, including Kenya, Uganda, India, Pakistan – and the UK. The company posted strong revenues of £980,000 last year but have ambitious plans for further growth, with the 1.4 billion people across the globe without access to reliable electricity representing a huge and largely untapped market. To widen its appeal in these developing countries, BBOXX is set to begin selling its generators in Kenya and Uganda on a pay-monthly basis rather than for an upfront fee – so those who cannot afford the upfront expense of a portable generator can still have access to reliable electricity. The company’s ambitions stretch to providing reliable electricity to 20 million people by 2020, whilst retaining the consumer-focused ethos of its not-for-profit origins. 

Founders: Adam Taylor and Lexi Tamasan
Founded: January 2011
Website: www.petshop.co.uk

Claiming to be the “UK’s friendliest online shop”, PetShop specialises in discounted pet food which it delivers directly to homes across the country. Borne out of co-founder Adam Taylor’s frustration at seeing his mother struggle with a bulk bag of pet food and with £5,000 backing from the Prince’s Trust, the online retailer launched in early 2011 and has never looked back. Its focus on saving pet owners time, money and hassle has seen it emerge with a no.1 spot in a highly competitive industry with over 4,000 regular customers using its service. The young duo recently extended the company’s offering to mainland Europe and have expanded their subscription service which offers customers regular repeat deliveries. With projected revenue figures of £3m for 2013 and a recent second place win at the RBS EnterpriseU competition, you don’t have to be barking mad to see that this early-stage start-up is going places.

Founder: Logan Naidu
Founded: July 2012
Website: www.dartmouthpartners.com

Dartmouth Partners sets itself apart from other recruitment consultancies by focusing on building relationships with the best students from campus upwards, allowing its clients to amass a generation of talent and contact networks as they develop rather than trying to develop a talent pool at corporate level. It’s a business model that has hit the ground running spectacularly – the start-up turned over an impressive £1.6m in its first year of trading with a net profit of £600,000 and revenues are set to rise to £2m over the next 12 months. Founder Logan Naidu is no stranger to start-ups, having launched two other businesses previously, one in recruitment which he exited earlier in 2012, but says the biggest challenge Dartmouth Partners has faced so far is the sheer pace of growth, a better challenge than most to have to overcome… 

Founders: Darren Westlake and Luke Lang
Founded: February 2011
Website: www.crowdcube.com

Making our list in 2012, crowdfunding platform Crowdcube’s viability was aptly demonstrated in May when the company raised £1.5m through its own website in just three days – setting a new world record for the finance method. So far 59 businesses have raised a total of more than £10m through the exchange and the site continues to grow in popularity – nearly 9,000 people have invested through Crowdcube since February 2011, many for the first time. Darren Westlake and Luke Lang say that creating a platform that allows ordinary people to get involved whilst not alienating seasoned investors has been crucial to the site’s success so far. The duo expect to use the £1.5m of investment to expand their marketing campaign, grow the site globally and fund £15m worth of deals by the end of the year.

Founder: Nick Vaughan
Founded: September 2010 (launched November 2010)
Website: www.hamlynwilliams.com

Operating in one of the most difficult markets, Hamlyn Williams is one of the fastest growing financial services recruitment companies in the UK. Labelled as a ‘boutique service’ by founder Nick Vaughan, the agency specialises in placing corporate governance and front office professionals, from associates to managing directors, in roles across the UK, Europe and the Americas. Working with a range of major brands and clientele within the professional services arena including RBS, Lloyds and KPMG, Vaughan credits the company’s ‘wide ranging and comprehensive’ service for its success to date. Having recently expanded to new offices in St James’s Park, the agency is on target to increase its headcount to 30 people over the next year and has a series of ambitious growth strategies in place following projected revenue figures of £3.7m. With plans to have an office in New York by year end 2013, the long-term goal is to become the leading global recruitment provider within the financial services industry.

Founder: Glen Calvert
Founded: January 2011
Website: www.affectv.co.uk

Many of us these days connect with people online in a myriad of ways through several social networks. Impressively, Affectv maps out all the interactions occurring between people online in order to find relevant audiences for advertisers. As a result, companies have flocked to buy adverts from the start-up and its clients now total over 60, including Am Ex, Dell, Sky and Thompson. Founder Glen Calvert has solid experience, both in start-ups (having been the first employee of ad tech firm Struq) and in digital media which he has put to good use, growing the young company organically to a solid six figure turnover. With ambitious plans to turn every ad on the web into a social recommendation, Calvert has an aggressive growth plan for the next 12 months, with a planned European office opening and a seven figure revenue projection. 

Founders: Bertie Stephens and Adel Louertatani
Founded: March 2011 (launched September 2012)
Website: www.flubit.com

Flubit was only launched in September 2012 but is already delivering on its promise to give consumers a brand new, and cheaper, way to shop online via its relationship with 200 retailers and merchants (with plans to double this to 400 within the year). Founding duo Bertie Stephens and Adel Louertatani used an initial private equity investment of £50,000 to create a sophisticated technology-heavy marketplace which allows users to specify products they hope to purchase and quickly receive a unique best possible offer. The promise of cheaper prices than can be found online anywhere else got consumers talking, and although the site had only recently launched, Christmas 2012 demonstrated the business’ potential through massive growth via word of mouth. Since then the firm has grown to employ 30 people, won the London Web Summit European Start Up Award, and secured a further $2.8m funding from private and angel investors to drive expansion. With a predicted turnover of £3m for 2013, you’ll certainly be hearing more of this unusually named start-up.