Five leading businesses in London and the South-East recognised for exceptional performance
Five London and South-East based businesses supported by private equity and venture capital are celebrated for their exceptional performance in 2022.
London-based organisations, Focus Group, Matrix, Medik8, loveholidays, and Times Higher Education have been chosen as winners for the Vision 2023 awards.
Produced in association with Grant Thornton, the Vision 2023 initiative held its final ceremony this year at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) Gala Dinner in London on November 22nd.
The annual award celebrates the standout firms who are backed by the BVCA’s private equity and venture capital members, which has seen a total of 14 recognised firms this year.
Judging criteria includes growth, competitiveness, innovation and ESG factors, and judges consider the firms’ focus on the future as well as past performance.
Kubrick Group and Bridewell were recognised by judges as ‘one to watch’.
Michael Moore, Chief Executive of the BVCA, said:
“This year’s awards have celebrated the exceptional performances of outstanding companies who have demonstrated real benefits and commitments to the growth of our economy.
"We’re pleased to celebrate the success of these firms and recognise them as leading examples of how businesses can grow sustainably through the support of private capital.”
Mo Merali, Head of Deals & Business Consulting at Grant Thornton UK, said:
"The Vision 2023 awards are once again showcasing how private equity investment is bringing the best out of business not just across London & South East but throughout the UK. The companies recognised through this year’s awards are delivering outstanding growth, innovation, job creation and remaining competitive, whilst also raising the bar in terms of sustainability and driving forward the ESG agenda.
"Private equity is an essential element of the funding landscape in the UK mid-market where we are most active and we are delighted to support the awards programme and to celebrate the superb contribution the management teams of Focus Group, Loveholidays, Matrix, Medik8 and Times Higher Education."
The recognised firms
Focus Group, backed by Bowmark Capital
Focus Group is a provider of digital services including (but not limited to) business phone systems, managed IT, data, cyber security, mobile, laaS, SaaS and utilities. Focus Group specialise in three main markets: IT, telecoms and connectivity. The firm have had a high level of acquisitions in recent years; with acquisitions targeted on a culture basis, with a high-level focus on identifying companies that align with Focus Group’s views on remuneration, ownership and working to be a first choice for employees.
Matrix, backed by Bridgepoint
Matrix is a leading workforce management technology platform and talent solutions business, supporting organisations to engage, source, screen and manage their skills and talent. They operate a 3-sided marketplace enabling employers, suppliers, and workers to connect and gain access to services that reduce the friction, time and cost associated with finding skills, talent and roles improving the experience of work for all. Through their marketplace, Matrix provides a vendor-neutral recruitment, compliance and billing solutions to over 1,000 clients, helping over a 100,000 workers via a network of over 2,500 recruitment suppliers.
Medik8, backed by Inflexion
Medik8 is a rapidly growing premium skincare brand focused on science-based anti-ageing products. With a strong heritage in the international professional channel and a rapidly expanding online and retail presence, it is committed to ethical manufacturing and through its vertically integrated model. The firm has a strong focus on innovation and R&D with its own laboratory and manufacturing facility in the UK offering a range of dermatological skincare products, which deliver unparalleled clinical results and supported by exceptional customer reviews.
loveholidays, backed by Livingbridge
Established in 2012, loveholidays is the UK’s fastest-growing travel agent who are on a mission to make bookings easy and accessible to everyone (through improvements which enable bookings to be completed in 6 clicks). It has grown rapidly and consistently, disrupting the market with best-in-class technology, hotel and flight supply aggregation, customer acquisition and user experience capabilities. It is now the third largest ATOL holder in the UK (only Jet2 and Tui are bigger). loveholidays’ impressive growth has come in a period where the volume of trips / passengers is lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Times Higher Education, backed by Inflexion
Times Higher Education (“THE”) provides data, intelligence and consultancy to universities, corporates, not-for-profits and governments worldwide. It holds 11m+ performance data points on over 6,700 universities from 155 countries, and its content platforms attract over 66 million visits from the world’s best higher education community annually, with a growing audience of 22 million+ parents and students. Since 2020, THE has acquired 5 businesses in the UK and the US and now has offices in London, Bristol, Leeds, Washington DC, San Francisco, Singapore and Melbourne.
Bridewell, backed by Growth Capital Partners (Marked as ‘One to watch’)
Bridewell is a leading cyber security services company that specialises in protecting and transforming critical business functions for some of the world’s most trusted organisations. Since being founded in 2013, Bridewell has grown rapidly and expanded into the US, and has become one of the largest cyber security providers.
Kubrick Group, backed by Bowmark Capital (Marked as ‘One to watch’)
Kubrick is a unique type of next-generation technology consultancy that helps organizations implement digital and data transformations and enrich their team capabilities. Kubrick are at the forefront of tackling the digital skills shortage, creating a high quality, diverse workforce by hiring, training and deploying non-technical graduates in data, AI and cloud engineering roles.
You can read more about the recognised businesses in the judging booklet here, or more about Vision 2023 on its webpage, here.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Karen Keany, BVCA: [email protected]
Notes to editors
About the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
The BVCA, as the representative body for private equity and venture capital, connects institutional investors, fund managers, companies, advisers and service providers together, with our membership currently comprising more than 650 businesses from across the private capital ecosystem. This includes more than 325 PE and VC firms, 100 institutional investors and 220 professional services firms.
Private capital drives growth – providing the funding, expertise and long-term view that enables companies to innovate and flourish. Our mission is to advocate the transformative nature of the private equity and venture capital community.
About Grant Thornton UK LLP
Grant Thornton is one of the world’s leading organisations of independent assurance, tax and advisory firms. We are an adviser that delivers technical expertise and a personal, proactive and agile service that goes beyond.
The UK member firm is part of a global network that employs 58,000 people in 135 countries. We combine global scale with local insight and understanding to build relationships and deliver the services you need to realise your ambitions.
The UK Grant Thornton member firm is led by over 200 partners and employs over 5000 of the profession’s brightest minds. We are a business adviser that celebrates fresh thinking and diverse perspectives to bring you proactive insights and a service you can trust.
Find out more at www.grantthornton.co.uk.
