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

When it comes to starting and running a successful business, Jonathan Brown, Ian Oxley and James Blackburn assert that “some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen” – and for them the latter most definitely rings true.

The founders of fast-growth recruitment start-up GPS Locums, Brown, Oxley and Blackburn have managed to tap into a lucrative but competitive market – supplying locum nurses and doctors to the NHS and private sector. Since the company’s launch in September 2012, GPS Locums has scaled organically to million pound revenues and a team of 17 employees.

The business covers doctors of all grades across a range of expertise and its “first class” 24 hour a day service has seen it make headway as one of the NHS’ preferred suppliers. The recruitment agency is now on track to become a top five supplier to the NHS and private sector and is in talks to close a £700m contract within the next year.

 Listed in the top 30 of the Startups 100 2014 index and finalist at the 2014 Startups Awards, the profitable business credits its success to putting relationships with clients and candidates at its core. “Huge growth” is anticipated over the next 12 months with plans currently underway to open a fourth office and revenues expected to break the £6m mark.

Founders: Daniel Long and Rob Linton
Founded: February 2012 (launched January 2013)
Website: www.clearabee.co.uk

The modern world produces a lot of rubbish, and taking it yourself or waiting around for council organised collection services isn’t always feasible or convenient. Tapping in to the growing demand for ‘convenience-focused’ businesses, Clearabee’s nationwide, on-demand rubbish removal service is out to change that and will take anything from mattresses to lawnmowers and even garden sheds for disposal or recycling.

Founders Daniel Long and Rob Linton wanted to apply the skills they’d learnt running an online marketing company and apply it to a real world business. They noticed a lucrative gap in the market for a flexible, national ‘man and van’ service, that would be just as comfortable collecting from domestic as it would commercial customers and so Clearabee was born

The Birmingham-founded business allows customers to simply enquire with the company for a price estimation, after which a tracked truck is sent out to assess the job and confirm a price – with no commitments beforehand.

With 40 employees and impressive financials to boot, over the next 12 months Clearabee hopes to complete and consolidate its nationwide rollout, as well as expanding its corporate customer base. While not the most glamorous of start-ups, with 30,000 customers under its belt after just two years of trading, this business is clearly more than just a load of old rubbish.

Founders: David Santoro, Alexandra Margolis and James Hind
Founded: February 2014
Website: www.carwow.co.uk

With its inherent hidden costs and haggling, buying new cars can be stressful for consumers, who just want to know that they’re getting a reasonable deal. Comparison website carwow mitigates these hassles by allowing its users to quickly compare prices from rated and approved dealers.                                                                         

Claiming to be the only company of its kind in the UK, founders David Santoro, Alexandra Margolis and James Hind’s company started out as a research site, before they realised the frustrations consumers had with the car buying process. Now, the platform allows users to  specify exactly what car they’re looking for – from colour, to engine type and price, to see the most competitive local offers. If the user finds a car they’re interested in purchasing, they can contact the dealer, with carwow charging each dealership on the number of sales completed through the platform.

The Holborn-based business has raised around £4.6m in finance to date, and with 25 employees and growing, the start-up has ambitious plans to undergo a period of further expansion over the next 12 months to become the go to place for new car buyers in the UK market. Having helped over 10,000 buyers to date, it seems we’ll certainly be hearing more from carwow…

Founder: Stephen Rapoport
Founded: September 2012
Website: www.pactcoffee.com

These days it seems every other shop is a café offering quality, fairtrade coffee. But it’s difficult to find that same freshness and quality from local shops or supermarkets. Founder of Pact Coffee and seasoned entrepreneur Stephen Rapoport (Pact is his fourth start-up) decided to solve this problem for fellow coffee connoisseurs with a service that delivers fresh roasted coffee through their letterbox.

The business works on a flexible subscription model, with coffee posted first class to any UK address at £6.95 per bag (or £8.95 for limited edition coffees). Rapoport says that he first started out to stop people running out of great coffee, but then discovered the “bigger opportunity of helping people drink great coffee in the first place. And then stopping them run out.” The coffee service is also to be commended for its direct link with its farmers, paying above the Fairtrade rate and encouraging good production practices so they can charge a higher price on the open market.

Over the next year Pact hopes to continue its 20% month-on-month growth and aims to be able to directly source 100% of its coffee, making its supply chain more efficient. With £2m backing from investors including Connect Ventures, Index Ventures and MMC Ventures and plans to raise a further round shortly, Rapoport’s ambitious goal of “making 10 million people smile every morning” could well be within reach.

Founder: Rohan Sinclair Luvaglio
Founded: 2013 (launched 2014)
Website: www.bizzby.com

Frustrated about not being able to get what he needed, when he needed it, founder of BIZZBY Rohan Sinclair Luvaglio had a simple solution – an on-demand services marketplace allowing users to book and receive what they want within 60 minutes.

Tapping in to the growing on-demand trend, the platform connects users to the professional service they need nearest to their postcode – including babysitters, handymen, cleaners, beauty therapists and even ‘heroes’, who’ll do anything from running errands to assembling furniture.  Currently only in London, the mobile first platform has more than 100,000 users, and while there are other on-demand delivery services, BIZZBY claims to be the only app of its kind to give you “services to your door in 60 minutes or less.”

With $10m in VC funding, the company will capitalise on its current 20% month-on-month growth and launch in five further cities in the next year. No stranger to launching and running a successful business, Sinclair Luvaglio listed his internet agency business on AIM for $60m when he was just 18. With BIZZBY set to turnover £5m in 2015, and Sinclair Luvaglio’s track record, the app’s unique and speedy approach to service needs across several industries should see it quickly gain traction across the UK.

Founders: Michael Rolph and Alain Falys
Founded: May 2013 (launched January 2014)
Website: www.yoyowallet.com

Entrepreneurs have been struggling to realise the full potential of mobile payments for the best part of a decade, but where others have failed, founders of Yoyo Wallet Michael Rolph and Alain Falys hope to succeed.

The mobile platform solution seamlessly blends payments, loyalty and discovery to develop better relationships between consumers and retailers. Recognising that payments alone are not enough for people to become active users, Yoyo provides tools that allow the retailer to target customers with rewards, offers and incentives based on profile and purchase history data.

The company’s main clients are universities and high street retailers, with plans underway to launch at a further 30 universities and 60 head offices across the UK this September. In the last year the app has gone from processing 15,000 to 150,000 transactions a month, and is currently growing at around 20% month-on-month.

The mobile payments market is a tough one to conquer, but with a wealth of experience in fintech and payments between them, and the backing of $15m investment – thanks to a $5m seed round followed by a $10m Series A, Rolph and Falys look like the men for the job.

Founder: Darren Jobling
Founded: May 2014
Website: www.zerolight.com

From a background in car racing videogame development, Darren Jobling created the ZeroLight real-time 3D car configurator – an interactive live showroom able to run in 4K UltraHD, with simulation quality physics to show the car driving realistically.

Unlike traditional car configurators which create the illusion of car customisation by overlaying 2D static images, ZeroLight’s technology allows the user to move around the inside and outside of the car as a roaming camera.

The company operates on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, with dealerships purchasing a per-year license to use the technology for a three-year minimum. Four big name brands have already adopted the technology including Jaguar, Land Rover and major German and Italian brands which can’t yet be named. But it’s not just cars that can benefit from the technology; a British airline is already using it to aid with design and iteration of new cabin designs.

The next 12 months will see ZeroLight deliver on projects in the automotive and aviation industries, as well as expand its technology to new platforms. After just a year of trading and with very impressive financials and 50 employees on its books already, provided it can convince potential clients of its superiority over existing providers, ZeroLight should be well on its way to global market dominance.

Founders: Ed Goring, Scott Boocock, Jeannie Arthur and Rob Hick
Founded: December 2012
Website: www.brightnorth.co.uk

Alongside its inherent advantages, the complexities and many facets of multichannel commerce can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate – and that’s where Bright North comes in. The platform provides solutions to help companies optimise all aspects of e-commerce, from image quality and feed production, to cart abandonment and customer retention.

The London-based firm undertook some extensive market evaluation, and found that incorrect or poor product images and data, and a lack of method to find the most profitable affiliate marketing channels were the biggest challenges facing online retailers.

The founders then used their research, and a combined experience in technology, data and e-commerce, to develop a suite of solutions that clients such as Thomas Cook, Sky, Samsung and Costa pay a setup and monthly licence fee to access.

With £1.5m angel investment, over the next year Bright North will focus on using increased marketing activity to gain traction in the enterprise e-commerce marketplace, as well as developing its platform to establish itself as the go to brand in the sector. An admirable commitment to research and responding to their clients needs should put the founders in good stead to achieve those goals. Watch this space.

Founders: Martin Campbell, Robert Drury, Stuart Dawson, and Eamon O’Dwyer
Founded: January 2014 (launched November 2014)
Website: www.ormsbystreet.com

Ask many entrepreneurs and small business owners what their biggest challenge is and they’ll often say the same thing: cashflow. Upon realising that existing products were inadequate, and that many start-ups and banks struggle to communicate, Martin Campbell, Robert Drury, Stuart Dawson, and Eamon O’Dwyer decided to build on the knowledge and data of their previous credit-score subscription product and develop a next generation model.

Ormsby Street’s CreditHQ is a free tool that integrates multiple data sources to help small businesses understand the financial health of trading partners and improve cashflow. Basic subscription is free and grants access to more than seven million company records, while standard subscription costs £25, providing more detailed credit and payment scores and up to date information on net worth assets, liabilities and adverse credit events.

Having already secured an international bank deal across several countries and with impressive turnover to boot, the company has a clear vision in mind for the coming year. The business plans to continue the rapid growth of the product’s usage, launch internationally – the team were part of a UKTI delegation in the US – and release the latest version of its proprietary technology, with an ultimate aim to stop small business owners “losing sleep over cashflow”. A mission we think will go down very well with our readers…

Founders: Tim Phillips, Simon Dennis, David Holliday and Alex McEvoy
Founded: June 2013
Website: www.gateone.co.uk

Take four entrepreneurial businessmen from the ‘big 4’ consultancy firms, add a goal to offer a different approach with “excellent client service”, and combine this with “attractive” price points and you’ll get Gate One’s recipe for start-up success.

Launched in June 2013, Gate One is a London-based management consultancy which looks to offer an innovative service to clients. Its founders created the business on the basis that they would use their expertise to offer a “better way” which includes providing highly experienced consultants to operate “shoulder to shoulder” with clients to tackle transitional challenges.

This “combination of innovation and expertise” has enabled the company to scale to multimillion revenues and 100% growth in 2015 – and attract an impressive client base which includes major household names.

The company also has big plans for the future; the coming year will see it recruit new team members and add at least three more blue-chip clients. It also wants to give something back to the start-up community and has already launched a business incubator which provides seed funding for start-ups in return for equity. A lifestyle and food business is off the starting block already. An “entrepreneurial consultancy” indeed…