Five leading Northern businesses recognised for exceptional growth
Manchester, 5 July: Manchester-based Cocogreen, DTM from Blackpool, NRG Riverside based in Lancashire, Protein Works from Cheshire, and Rochdale-based Wireless CCTV, have won the British Private Equity and Venture Capital (BVCA) Vision 2024 awards for North England.
Sponsored by Grant Thornton and Santander, the annual awards honour the management teams of companies backed by private equity and venture capital.
The judging panel praised all firms for their growth trajectory, with specific mention to Wireless CCTV for its strong customer retention and excellent work on improving diversity metrics. DTM and NRG Riverside were recognised for their innovative data and technology strategy that help to customer needs. Protein Works was commended for its innovative execution of data undertaken in-house to help them stay ahead of the curve, and Cocogreen was hailed for its commitments to improving social mobility and the environment.
Circulatory Capital (backing Cocogreen), Palatine (backing NRG Riverside and DTM), YFM Equity Partners (backing Protein Works) and LDC (backing Wireless CCTV), all won awards for their outstanding support to investee companies.
In 2023, private capital invested £870m in the North West, backing 109 companies and supporting 188,000 jobs. The North East received £900m of private capital investment in 2023, backing 51 businesses and supporting 54,000 jobs.
Representatives from all the recognised companies received their awards at a ceremonial dinner held last night at Gusto in Manchester. Additional Nations and regions winners will be announced throughout the year, with national winners celebrated at a Gala Dinner in December. The final list will feature 15 companies, including four recognised at different investment stages: early stage, scale-up, medium, and large.
Michael Moore, BVCA Chief Executive said:
“These businesses exemplify the outstanding growth and innovation that we aim to celebrate with the BVCA Vision 2024 awards.
“Their achievements in ESG, diversity, and leveraging technology to advance business operations highlight the exceptional leadership driving the North East and North West regions forward.
We are proud to honour their successes and see the impact that private equity and venture capital has in Northern England.
David Gilbertson, Chief Executive Officer at Wireless CCTV said:
“We are delighted to receive the prestigious BVCA 2024 Vision award.
“The partnership with LDC has enabled WCCTV to accelerate on our growth journey. They have provided valuable support and guidance to the WCCTV leadership team, enabling us to develop new security technology and expand in the UK and America.
“We have also made significant strides in our ESG initiatives, this has continued to improve our company culture, resilience and innovation within our team. We are looking forward to a very exciting future.”
Laura Keir, Chief Executive Officer at Protein Works said:
“The Protein Works team is proud of winning the 2024 British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Awards – it’s fantastic to be recognised in this way, alongside our investors at YFM.
“Our team at Protein Works have delivered uninterrupted growth for over a decade, and since partnering with YFM 5 years ago, levels of growth have boomed. Managing every part of our business in-house can be a huge ask at times, and this award goes to show how well our talented teams deliver time and time and again.
“I’d like to thank every Protein Works teammate for this one, and raise a shake to the journey ahead as there’s plenty of exciting announcements and launches in the pipeline. Well done team – you are superstars.”
Leigh Goodland, Chief Executive Officer at DTM said:
"I am thrilled to receive the BVCA Award on behalf of Team DTM. At DTM, our Senior Leadership Team and I have embedded our values and built a culture around the 'PACE' philosophy, focusing on People, Approved Suppliers, Customers, and ESG. This approach has made DTM an exciting and inclusive place to work.
“By prioritising the customer journey, colleague happiness, and robust training, we have achieved incredible growth even during challenging times. Our pioneering ESG charter helps reduce carbon emissions and empowers customers to make sustainable choices.
“We accept this award on behalf of our dedicated colleagues, whose efforts made this achievement possible. Thank you to Palatine, our private equity backer, for its invaluable support."
Darren Powell, Chief Executive Officer at NRG Riverside said:
"We are delighted to be recognised for such a prestigious award. As a relatively new management team, we have strived to achieve sustainable double digit EBITDA growth whilst looking to enhance our ESG credentials.
“So much hard work has been done by the team to make us a market leading player in our industry while working proactively with the supply chain and customer base to be forward looking leaders for the environment. I couldn't be prouder of what we have achieved to date and what we will achieve as a team going forward."
Thomas Ogden, Co-Founder & COO at Cocogreen said:
“Cocogreen is honoured to be awarded for a decade of non-stop international growth and for our commitment to positive environmental and social impact.
“The award comes at an exciting moment for the CleanTech pioneer, who provide their market leading Cocogreen Substrate, a kind of super soil that acts as the engine room of root development for plants that has transformed the fresh produce sector.
“Cocogreen’s innovative, patented technologies and expert international team, that now touches every continent, underpins Cocogreen’s continued growth. Cocogreen empowers agriculture worldwide to reduce resource use, increase productivity, welfare and biodiversity, ensuring the supply of healthy superfoods is sustainable.
“The company also transforms the quality of lives of communities, both within its supply base, global operations and at the consumer level.
“Cocogreen is proud to share the award with Circularity Capital whom have supported the business on the most recent stage of development and identified Cocogreen’s unique position within the Circular Economy proving that sustainable and impactful growth is absolutely achievable, whilst being an advantage to value creation.”
Peter Terry, Head of Private Equity at Grant Thornton said:
“Congratulations on the remarkable achievements of Cocogreen, DTM, NRG Riverside, Protein Works and Wireless CCTV. It’s fantastic to see the positive contributions these companies have on society and the economy in Northern England.
“We are proud to support the Vision 2024 awards and celebrate the exceptional management teams of the recognised firms, as well as honour the support provided by their private equity backers.”
Jo Phipson, Regional Managing Director – North West, Santander UK said:
“We are proud to be part of the Vision 2024 awards which celebrates high growth businesses backed by private equity.
“It is great to see such innovation in the North and we are keen to continue to support the ambitions of UK businesses.”
Learn more about these winning companies in the Vision 2024 North West & North East Awards booklet below, or more about Vision 2024: Leaders Driving Growth Awards on its webpage, here.
Media contacts
James Gribben, 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 600 businesses from across the private capital ecosystem. This includes more than 250 PE and VC firms, 100 institutional investors and 200 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.
