ClearBank champions in Deloitte’s 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 awards

• ClearBank, the payment and banking services provider, has topped Deloitte’s 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 awards, a ranking of the UK’s 50 fastest growing technology companies;
• The London-based FinTech company reported an average three-year growth of 21,569% to the year 2020/21;
• Fast 50 companies generated a combined revenue of £2.92 billion in 2020/21, an increase of 33% from last year’s total of £2.2 billion, and employ 19,320 people, with an average revenue growth of 3,337% over a three-year period.

Deloitte has today announced the winners of the 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 awards. The awards recognise and rank the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK, based on average revenue growth over a three-year period, and are sponsored by Barclays and Oracle NetSuite.

This year’s Fast 50 businesses showcase an average growth rate of 3,337% and total revenues in 2020/21 of £2.92 billion, employing 19,320 people in the UK.

ClearBank unveiled as 2021 Fast 50 winner

The payment and banking services provider ClearBank is the overall winner of the 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 award, having achieved an average three-year growth rate of 21,569% to the year 2020/21.

The London-based business employs 350 people and delivers real-time payment and digital banking services, marketing itself as the first new full-service clearing bank for 250 years.

In second place is Airtime Rewards, the North West-based consumer spending tracker service, with a growth rate of 16,907%. Payment processing service, Paysend, ranks in third place with an overall revenue growth rate of 14,498%.

The top three in this year’s competition are FinTech businesses, with FinTech companies making up 24% of the overall Fast 50. Software remains the leading sector, accounting for 52% of all winners.

Duncan Down, lead partner for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme, commented: “The extraordinary growth of this year’s Fast 50 represents the remarkable tenacity of the UK’s technology industry. The country’s 50 fastest-growing technology companies in 2020/21 have achieved combined revenues of nearly £3 billion, an increase of 33% from last year’s total of £2.2 billion, showing the clear contribution that innovation is making to the UK’s economic recovery.

“At any time, ClearBank’s three-year growth rate of 21,569% would be impressive, but remarkably they have achieved this during a period of change and economic uncertainty. Deloitte’s 2021 Fast 50 awards are a clear demonstration of the wealth of talent, creativity, and entrepreneurship in the UK’s technology industry today. I would like to personally congratulate all the winners and entrants for this year’s awards.”

Charles McManus, CEO of ClearBank said: “Deloitte’s Fast 50 is a prestigious award; one we were very keen on winning.

“ClearBank started as six people in a basement office in the east end of London. We now have more than 350 employees based across the UK, with 170 businesses using our platform, and another 150 in the process of coming on-board. We’re the first new, full-service clearing bank plugged directly into the UK’s payment infrastructure for 250 years and we are completely focused on providing the best embedded banking services to 5,500 regulated financial institutions, from banks and FinTech businesses to credit unions. We are growing quickly and now service around 1% of UK faster payments and we see no reason why we won’t be five or even ten times larger – we’re powering forwards!”

Technology innovation shines through economic crisis

When asked about the main drivers for growth, 46% of this year’s Fast 50 business leaders cited the development of new products or services that did not exist before as the main driver of revenue growth. For 27% of the Fast 50, improving versions of existing products or services in the market has been the main revenue driver.

Down added: “The challenges posed by the pandemic have been a driver for innovation, as businesses have been forced into creating and adapting to new technologies and ways of working. Technology innovation is pulling the UK’s economy up by its bootstraps.”

Capital continues to light the touch paper for technology success

London continues to play host to the majority of the UK’s fastest growing technology start-ups. Deloitte’s ranking reveals that 78% of Fast 50 companies are headquartered in London, including eight of the top ten. Alongside ClearBank, this includes DNA-based genetic developers, Touchlight Genetics (fourth overall with a three-year growth rate of 11,421%) and analytics-based freight management platform, ZenCargo (seventh overall with a three-year growth rate of 5,697%). Nine of the 12 FinTech companies ranked in the awards are based in the capital.

Outside of London, standout performances across the regions include Airtime Rewards, a consumer spending and loyalty tracking company (second overall, three-year growth rate of 16,907%, North West winner), and Wonde, a platform that provides tools to manage school data (fifth overall, three-year growth rate of 10,792%, South East winner).

Dayshape, a resource planning platform, returns to the Fast 50 for the second consecutive year as one of two ranked from Scotland (37^th overall, three-year growth rate of 1,251%), and the Midlands has two representatives with Cloud-based onboarding company AccountancyManager (33^rd overall, three-year growth rate of 1,281%) and last year’s winner, digital lending services platform DivideBuy (43^rd overall, three-year growth rate of 871%).

Down concluded: “The capital continues to play host to the country’s fastest-growing technology companies, signalling the strength of innovation alive in the city. FinTech businesses in particular continue to benefit from the tight network of technology entrepreneurs that London is home too. This year’s Fast 50 awards shine a spotlight on the prestige of the UK’s technology sector.”

-ENDS-

2021 UK Technology Fast 50

About the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50

The Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 is one of the UK’s foremost technology award programmes. Now in its 24 year, it is a ranking of the country’s 50 fastest-growing technology companies, based on revenue growth over the last four years. The UK Fast 50 awards are all about growth driven by leading intellectual property and are a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. The UK Technology Fast 50 is part of an international programme run by Deloitte and qualifying entrants of the UK Fast 50 will be put forward to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) programme. Previous winners have come from across the UK, are both large and small, and included some of the most dynamic players in all areas of technology, from internet specialists to biotech, digital media technology to life sciences, computers to semiconductors and software to telecommunications.

For more information visit www.fast50.co.uk

Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 eligibility criteria

The parent company must be UK-owned and have its headquarters in the UK;

NB: Companies headquartered in Northern Ireland can take part in the UK OR Irish programme but need to choose one or the other and cannot enter both.

Operating revenues must be at least £43,000 (€50,000) for the first financial year of the four-year period and £860,000 (€1,000,000) for the most recent financial year.

NB: The accounts for the most recent financial year must have an accounting period ending between 1 June 2020 and 31 May 2021.

About Barclays

Barclays is a British universal bank. It is are diversified by business, by different types of customers and clients, and by geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group.

As the first UK bank to have a dedicated Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) team, Barclays understands the complexity and competitiveness of this rapidly evolving sector. Over half of our Relationship Directors have at least 20 years’ experience in working closely with TMT companies.

Web: www.barclayscorporate.com
Twitter: @BarclaysCorp
LinkedIn: Barclays

About Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite is delighted to support the UK Fast 50 and celebrate the success of innovative companies at the forefront of the technology sector.

Oracle NetSuite’s cloud business software suite is the top choice of technology companies who understand that the key to unlocking and managing growth is a back-office system that can address today’s challenges while providing the critical foundation for future expansion.

Today over 40,000 companies trust NetSuite to run their mission critical business processes from accounting, procurement, and HR through to marketing and sales. NetSuite’s track record as the business system of choice for high-growth tech companies is unmatched. NetSuite isn’t just for start-ups, companies of all sizes benefit from its comprehensive, global financial and accounting core that makes international expansion straightforward; improved visibility across the business; and increased efficiency from eliminating manual processes and disparate systems.

Web: www.netsuite.co.uk

Twitter: @NetSuiteEMEA

LinkedIn: NetSuite

About Deloitte

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The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

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