Deliveroo rides to victory, winning Deloitte’s UK Fast 50 for the second year in a row

• Deliveroo has topped Deloitte’s ranking of the UK’s 50 fastest growing technology companies, for the second year in a row;
• The company is the first in the 21-year history of the Fast 50 to win twice, reporting an average three year growth rate of 15,749% to the year 2017/18;
• The Fast 50 companies generated a combined revenue of £1.2bn in 2017/18, employing more than 9,000 people over nine tech subsectors.

Deloitte has today announced the winners of the 2018 UK Technology Fast 50 awards. The awards recognise and rank the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK, based on the last four years of revenue data, and are sponsored by DLA Piper, Oracle NetSuite and Silicon Valley Bank.

This year’s cohort of winners represent companies at the forefront of the sector, with over 9,000 employees across the 50 companies and an inspiring average growth rate of 2,176% and total revenues in 2018 of c.£1.2bn.

Deliveroo secures top spot for a second year

Food courier service Deliveroo is the overall winner of the 2018 UK Technology Fast 50 awards for a second year. Following Deliveroo’s record growth rate achieved in 2017, this year the company boasted impressive results with an average growth rate of 15,749%. Checkout.com (15,548%) and Hostmaker (6,445%) ranked second and third place respectively.

Duncan Down, lead partner for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme, commented:

“We are now in our third decade of celebrating the country’s fastest-growing technology companies through the UK Fast 50 awards, and the rate of growth continues to impress. The UK start-up scene is in excellent health, with strong access to talent and funding. What impresses me most is the rate of growth, with the time from establishment to ‘unicorn’ status continuing to reduce. I would like to personally congratulate all of the winners and entrants for this year’s awards.

“After a record breaking year last year, Deliveroo has continued to see strong growth and has managed to retain the top spot. This sends a particularly positive message to UK start-ups operating in uncertain times. Through innovative thinking, planning and access to the right talent, entrepreneurial companies like Deliveroo can disrupt the market and quickly find success.”

Dan Warne, Managing Director for Deliveroo UK and Ireland said:

“Deliveroo is proud of how far we have come in five years and our position as a British tech success. Growing a company so quickly present a wide range of challenges, but the potential for growth in food delivery market only gets bigger with every passing day.

"Our fast-paced growth highlights the importance of strategy and the continued dedication of our staff in delivering for our riders, restaurants and customers. Companies must always be thinking about new ways to operate and innovate which is why we have expanded into delivery-only kitchens through Deliveroo Editions, led the way in the new concept of virtual brands and ensured our corporate offering through Deliveroo for Business is second to none.”

Diversity and inclusion in the Fast 50

Diversity and inclusion has become a priority across all sectors in recent years, and is now recognised as having clear and tangible links to performance and growth. The Fast 50 have shown commitment to diversity and inclusion, outperforming the wider sector in terms of their diversity ratios.

As part of the UK Technology Fast 50 programme, Deloitte carried out a survey of over 100 CEO’s at fast growing companies. Of these respondents, half confirmed that more than 40% of their employees identify as female - a significant change from 2015 - where only one third of companies had more than 40% of employees identify as female. These figures compare well to the wider technology sector, where it is estimated that women comprise less than 20% of all employees.

Duncan Down commented: “These results show the nature of many of the Fast 50 entrants, who are ahead of the game in attracting the best talent and ensuring inclusivity.

“A company that takes a diverse and inclusive approach to hiring can access a larger pool of applicants, and these companies attract the best talent from all over the world, which is no doubt a key contributor to their success.”

A Capital performance

London continues to dominate the Fast 50 landscape, with 68 per cent of winners headquartered in the UK capital, including nine of this year’s top 10. This was followed by the South West and Wales region, which provided 10 per cent of this year’s Fast 50 winners, rising from six per cent since last year.

In line with the trend of the last two decades, software-led businesses were once again the most prevalent sector in the UK Technology Fast 50, making up 40 per cent of all winners, only slightly less than 2017’s 44 per cent. This was followed by Fintech, which made up 28 per cent of winners - notably, 14 of the 15 Fintech winners were headquartered in London - and Media & Entertainment (18 per cent), up eight per cent and two per cent respectively.

Duncan Down commented: “This year’s cohort of Fast 50 winners saw a diverse mix of technology companies from across the country. However, London remains firmly positioned as the UK’s tech capital, with very strong representation in Fintech and software particularly.”

End

Note to editors

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 twenty first 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 £42,000 (€50,000) for the first financial year of the four year period and £817,000 (€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 2017 and 31 May 2018.
• All submissions must be accompanied by signed accounts for the first and last financial year being measured in the competition. Unless a statutory exemption is being taken, these accounts must be unabbreviated and audited.

If you have any further questions regarding whether your company qualifies, please contact fast50@deloitte.co.uk

About Deloitte
In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.

Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NWE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.

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

For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk

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About DLA Piper
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help companies with their legal needs anywhere in the world.

Our global technology sector lawyers work across practice areas and offices to support technology clients wherever they do business. From startups to fast growing and mid-market businesses to mature global enterprises, our clients are companies that develop or create technology, are enabled by technology, or whose business model is fundamentally based on technology.

We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality and value to our clients. We achieve this through practical and innovative legal solutions that help our clients succeed. We deliver consistent services across our platform of practices and sectors in all matters we undertake.

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About Oracle NetSuite
For more than 20 years, Oracle NetSuite has helped organisations grow, scale and adapt to change. NetSuite provides a suite of cloud-based applications, which includes financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), HR, professional services automation and omnichannel commerce, used by more than 15,000 customers in 203 countries and dependent territories.

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About Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley Bank is pleased to support the UK Fast 50 for the sixth consecutive year. We are dedicated to helping drive growth in the UK innovation economy and look forward to recognising the accomplishments and celebrating the success of fast-growing UK businesses.

For 35 years, Silicon Valley Bank has helped innovators, enterprises and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. Today, we provide a wide range of banking and financing services to businesses of all sizes in innovation centres around the world. SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, has had a presence in the UK since 2004. The bank is committed to supporting disruptive technology and life science businesses within the UK’s vibrant innovation sector, including Learning Technologies Group, Trustpilot and Made.com.