Sunday Times - Fastest Growing Firms 2014

CONVEYOR manufacturer Sovex has made it onto the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table – after three years of rapid growth. The Wirral-based company, which specialises in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of vehicle loader and conveyor systems, won a place on the elite list which tracks Britain’s fastest growing private firms. The recession-busting manufacturer already has a bulging order book for 2015, plans to recruit dozens more staff including apprentices, and ambitious expansion plans. Sovex, which ranked 82 in the 100-strong list, was selected because of its fast growing sales since 2011. Its sales have grown an average of 52% a year to £20m this year. Managing director Michele Dematteis said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised as one of Britain’s business success stories. Sovex has gone from strength to strength, year after year, despite some of the toughest economic times. “We put that down to hard work, engineering ingenuity and a passion for innovation. We have our heart set on even faster growth during 2015 – by breaking into new markets, creating new products and services that our customers want and winning new clients overseas. “Sovex doing well isn’t just good for us – it’s good for our supply chain, good for Merseyside and good for job creation.” Fast Track 100 is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each December. Mr Dematteis and fellow directors are set to attend the invitation-only 18th annual Fast Track 100 awards dinner which will be held at the Oxfordshire home of Sir Richard Branson’s family next year. Sovex’s products are widely used within the parcel industry and have been developed to save companies time and money by enabling vehicles of all sizes - from Transit vans to articulated lorries - to be loaded and unloaded safely and quickly. Once unloaded Sovex offers full conveyor systems to assist with sorting and transporting the items.