Founder: Matt Lane
Founded: May 2012 (launched September 2012)
Website: www.beerbods.co.uk

On a mission to get people “drinking better beer”, online beer club BeerBods has achieved impressive growth since launch. The Worcester-based beer subscription service, founded by 28 year old entrepreneur Matt Lane, recently closed £150,000 in 36 hours on equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube; one of the site’s “fastest ever funded businesses”, and has amassed over 1,500 subscribers to date.

Lane got the idea for BeerBods after witnessing the success of subscription models with films and coffee and, after starting out with a “few mates tasting beer in a shed”, Lane turned this beer tasting into a business proposition, with the added USP of making it possible (with some tricky logistics) for all BeerBods’ subscribers to drink the same beer at the same time. With Dan Germain, head of brand and creative at smoothie giant Innocent, just one of the beer community’s backers, it’s not surprising that the site – which claims to the first of its kind in the UK –  is on target for a £600,000 turnover and has rather ambitious plans for the next 12 months. Overseas expansion, a 10 fold increase on subscribers, and new products and services are all in the pipeline with founder Lane determined to make BeerBods one of the leading players in the craft beer industry.

Founders: Sandeep Senghera and Jozef Wallis
Founded: November 2012 (launched March 2013)
Website: www.toothpick.com

Jozef Wallis and Sandeep Senghera – a former dentist himself – decided to set up Toothpick after conducting a survey that found a staggering 450 out of 1,000 dental practices failed to pick up the phone during standard operating hours, with 40% also lacking a website. It was clear to both of them that the industry was crying out for a way to make appointment-booking easier, and so Toothpick was launched – an all-in-one dentist booking platform allowing customers to browse reviews, compare providers and book both NHS and private dentists in real-time.

The service charges dentists for new patients found via the platform in addition to a per-booking or flat monthly fee, and it is completely free for consumers. With such an obviously beneficial service, it’s no wonder the start-up completed the remarkable feat of 100,000 live bookings in just over a year of trading. The founders say growth for 2014 is set to soar as the business starts to power back-end dental booking services on the NHS and other providers such as the Scoot network, with further distribution deals in the pipeline and 500 dentists joining per month. They confidently predict that one in four dentists will be using the platform by the end of the year.

Founder: Ross Bailey
Founded: February 2013
Website: www.appearhere.co.uk

It was when operating his own Diamond Jubilee-themed pop-up shop, Rock and Rule, that 21-year-old young entrepreneur Ross Bailey noticed something – many people were coming in not just to browse the kitschy apparel but to talk about how he found the space itself. Bailey realised that there was no single listings market for short-term retail space, so set about creating Appear Here using the profit he made from Rock and Rule. Through its curated destination guides, video showcases and event sessions, Bailey says the site has elevated itself from a simple listings marketplace into a place which ‘inspires’ people to make their start-up dreams happen.

With around 5,000 brands and entrepreneurs using the platform, over £1m investment and a client list that includes Google, the BBC and Microsoft, it is clear people are buying into this vision in a big way. 2014 looks set to be a landmark year for Appear Here; the company recently signed up some of the biggest landlords in the country, including Transport for London and Hammerson with other big deals in the pipeline, and Bailey says he plans to quickly scale the business model globally.

Founders: James Brown and Fraser Doherty
Founded: September 2013
Website: www.beer52.com

Co-founded by Startups’ ‘Young Entrepreneur to Watch’ 24 year-old James Brown, online craft beer club Beer52 has all the makings of a start-up success story. Launched last September, the Edinburgh-based subscription platform works with independent microbreweries to give members access to boxes of unique and speciality brews. Making a splash in this emerging, and already somewhat crowded, market, (Beer52 is one of three beer subscription sites to make the list this year) the site now has over 2,500 subscribers and is projected to reach an impressive turnover of £1.15m for 2014.

Since attracting SuperJam’s Fraser Doherty, a 2009 Growing Business Young Gun, to come on board at the company’s pre-launch, the craft beer community has gained further strong backing, having raised £100,000 through the Angels Den crowdfunding platform in just 38 days and securing a recent follow-on round from Secret Escapes’ Andrew Bredon.  In the last few months, Beer52 has been working with Ben Hopkins, the co-founder of wine marketplace Naked Wines, on customer acquisition and is now on target to increase its paying subscribers to 5,000 by the end of the year. We predict big things for this young company as it fights it out with competitors “to become the Virgin Wines of craft beer”.

Founder: Michael Cross
Founded: May 2012 (launched September 2012)
Website: brightblueconsulting.co.uk

Having worked in the marketing return on investment (ROI) industry for 15 years, Brightblue Consulting founder Michael Cross came to realise that marketing results weren’t being used efficiently. Determined to “buck the trend”, Cross created Brightblue; a marketing consultancy delivering complex ROI results in a “clear and simple way” so that businesses can optimise their future spend.

Just over 18 months after launch and already profitable, the company’s innovative model has paid off. The business has won contracts with leading UK brands such as 118 118, Kerry Foods, EE and Reed.co.uk – an impressive client portfolio to say the least. Claiming to increase client marketing spend by 15% on average, the consultancy plans to focus on further client acquisition over the next 12 months, as well as internal growth with plans to add four new members to its current three-person team in 2014.Brightblue Consulting wants to bring marketing ROI into the mainstream so expect to see a rise in more “accountable and defendable” marketing over the next year.

Founder: Jonny Rosenblatt
Founded: September 2012 (launched August 2013)
Website: www.headspacegroup.co.uk

Working in the commercial office industry, Headspace founder Jonny Rosenblatt noticed the dearth of quality, flexible office space for the UK’s increasing number of dynamic small firms; he found the options were limited to traditional, onerous five-year leases, blandly corporate serviced offices or open plan, noisy and “generally pretty unexciting” co-working spaces. Headspace Group aims to give the UK’s dynamic start-ups a real alternative; its appealingly designed individual offices provide large, beautiful spaces for start-ups, each tailored to a firm’s individual needs, with separate communal areas for all-important networking and collaboration.

The Group’s location at Hatton Garden in London adds to this appeal, with original exposed brickwork and steel beams rubbing shoulders with polished marble columns and sheets of frosted glass. The space now boasts around 100 tenants, including $200m web giant Buzzfeed, international coding school General Assembly and mobile app developer Fueled, with an additional 100 non-resident clients leasing virtual office space and other services from Headspace. Turning over £200,000 by December 2013 – just a few months after launch – Rosenblatt confidently expects to grow this to £900,000 by year-end after doubling Headspace’s presence in their existing building.

Founder: Tajinder Banwait
Founded: January 2012
Website: urbanapothecarylondon.com

The brainchild of female entrepreneur Tajinder Banwait, Urban Apothecary began at Banwait’s kitchen table after she had found it impossible to find the perfect unique candle holder and decided to design her own. Having launched the business in 2012, Urban Apothecary has come a long way from its kitchen origins and now stocks its luxury homeware products, which include decorative glass and home fragrances, in 26 John Lewis stores, and on the shelves of Fenwick, Bergdorf Goodman and a number of independent stores.

By 2015, Banwait plans to double the number of stockists to 100 and with additional John Lewis deals in the pipeline, turnover is set to increase to over £1m. Claiming to be the first of its kind in the UK, the burgeoning company is carving out a niche for itself in the extremely lucrative candle market with unique fragrances such as the Sweet William fragrance; an ode to Prince William and Kate’s royal wedding. Currently operating on a wholesale and retail basis, the lifestyle brand has two additional revenue streams planned for the coming year including contract manufacturing for third party clients and a new division focusing on international distributors. International expansion is also on the cards.

Founders: Owen Gale and Philippa Gale
Founded: October 2011
Website: www.hammethouse.co.uk

For many people, the phrase “country house hotel” conjures up images of floral carpets, dusty chandeliers and a stuffy, traditional atmosphere, and it was when looking for a wedding venue that entrepreneurial couple Owen and Philippa Gale decided to open a retreat that challenged these ‘fuddy duddy’ stereotypes. Describing itself as a “funky, fresh venue” for discerning guests looking for a stylish retreat, Hammet House combines Georgian architecture and a beautiful location in rural Pembrokeshire with all the latest mod cons – from flatscreen TVs and Egyptian cotton in all the bedrooms to an ultra-modern bar and restaurant space.

Head chef and “kitchen superstar” Andy Beaumont adds a touch of culinary class to the equation, bringing his experience of multiple Michelin-starred venues to offer guests a quality, cosmopolitan selection of food and drink. Generating revenues of more than £400,000 in 2013, the Gales plan to invest in further refurbishments to Hammet House across the next 12 months as they continue towards their goal of offering true urban sophistication in a rural setting.

Founders: Paul Hanson and Clare Hanson
Founded: July 2012
Website: www.thechildrensfurniturecompany.com

Husband-and-wife duo Paul and Clare Hanson were shopping for furniture items for their own daughter when they became frustrated with the “bland and uninspiring” selection on offer at high-street retail stores, often with prohibitively high price tags attached. Spotting a gap in the market, they launched The Children’s Furniture Company.

The start-up offers quality and unique alternatives to the children’s furniture offered by mainstream retailers sourced directly from designers and manufacturers – a model which allows it to offer savings of up to 60% to consumers whilst driving their own gross margins up to 75%. The model represents a true challenger brand in a market long overdue for a shake-up, and this is reflected in the company’s impressive £375,000 turnover for 2013, boosted by a landmark Tesco Direct marketplace supply deal concluded in October. The company predicts to grow this to £1m in 2014 as it builds on its 15,000 current customers by expanding its product range, with a potential US launch also planned.

Founder: Andrew Jennings
Founded: March 2012
Website: www.berrywhite.com

“Good for you and good for others”, organic drinks manufacturer and distributor BerryWhite is on a mission to bring superfruits to the masses. Launched in early 2012 by Andrew Jennings, the Soho-based drinks company has grown at an incredible rate with its offering which combines fruits and “healthy extracts” with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. Part start-up, part social enterprise, the drinks business donates 10% of its profits to charity; it says it’s this credential, combined with its “delicious flavours”, which has seen it overshadow competitors.

Started with a £100,000 bank loan and £145,000 private investment, the business now sells to thousands of customers via 15 wholesalers and listings with Waitrose, Ocado and Amazon, and that’s just in the UK. The drinks start-up also exports to over 27 countries worldwide and sells to a variety of international wholesalers, as well as directly to major supermarkets. Its revenue figures are equally as impressive with £500,000 turnover for 2013 and a staggering £1.4m turnover projected for 2014. Further expansion is on the cards with a crowdfunding campaign currently underway, as well as plans to establish a charitable foundation to maintain charity work as a “key component of the business”.