Bondholders dominate university’s Top 200 companies research

Marketing Derby Bondholders have dominated research carried out by the University of Derby listing Derby and Derbyshire’s Top 200 businesses.

Toyota UK, which has its UK car manufacturing plant at Toyota, tops the list, which is calculated by turnover, and is joined in the top 10 by construction firm Bowmer+Kirkland, engineering giant Rolls-Royce, train-maker Bombardier (now Alstom) and heating and air conditioning technology manufacturer Vaillant.

A number of other Bondholders, including the university itself, are also featured on the list, which has been compiled by researchers at its Business School.

Angela Tooley, enterprise development manager at the University of Derby, said: “Derby and Derbyshire are home to global brands, as well as locally-owned high growth companies from a diverse range of sectors, which are at the forefront of innovation in UK growth areas such as decarbonisation, clean growth, digital and export of services.

“This research further confirms the strength of the area’s businesses, particularly as many of them are based outside of our main towns and city.

“This makes their contribution to the regional economy even more important, through providing high-quality employment and buying goods and services from local supply chains, many of whom are SMEs.”

The Top 200 ranks all active, private sector businesses in Derby and Derbyshire by turnover, which the university says is a simple but powerful indicator of business growth and relative positioning.

It has been compiled from publicly available information for the financial period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, including data from Companies House and the Fame database.

It therefore does not show the full effects of the pandemic, which will become more apparent in next year’s Top 200.

The latest list showcases some of the companies driving the local economy and highlights interesting growth sectors and place-based clusters.

Among the other Bondholders included on the list are A1 Comms, whose business arm is called Yappl.

It is joined in the top 100 by fellow Bondholders Mortgage Advice Bureau, Ward, Clowes Developments, Totally, Wellglade, the company behind bus operator trentbarton and Denby Pottery.

Also on the list are NK Motor Group, Ron Brooks, Midland Lead and Wheeldon Brothers.

Professor Kamil Omoteso, pro vice-chancellor dean of the College of Business, Law and Social Sciences at the University of Derby, said: “As the university’s profile and impact within the business community continues to grow and we move forward with our plans for our city-based Derby Business School, it’s fantastic to see such strong, thriving businesses, many that the university works closely with, recognised in the list.”

The Top 200 list will feed into the East Midlands Top 500 companies league table, which is due to be published later this month.

To view the Top 200 research please click here.