Town is region's high growth capital

WARRINGTON has the highest concentration of high growth businesses in the North West, according to new research.
The study looked at Experian data for every company in the UK then designed its own metric – the HiQ index – to map the percentage of high growth companies in each local authority area.
The index takes the number of high growth businesses in a local authority area and sets this against the number of small and medium sized employers and comes up with an HiQ figure.
Based on this, Warrington had the highest HiQ rating of the North West’s local authority areas at 7.9 per cent and was ranked 16 in the UK.
The research was conducted by enterprise growth company “Winning Pitch”, recently appointed by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) to deliver its £10 million high growth business support programme.
“Gazelle” companies – so called because they run fast and jump high – make up six per cent of Cheshire SMEs.
These are businesses that have over ten employees and have grown to a turnover of £1 million within their first three years, or that already turn over £0.5 million and are predicted to grow by 20 per cent year-on-year for the next three years.
Winning Pitch is now calling for local authorities in the North West to support high growth and potential high growth businesses in their areas, with funding and business support, to help boost the region’s economy and create jobs.
Dave Thomas, head of Winning Pitch’s research arm, The Observatory, said: “Many authorities are focusing their support on companies with little or no growth potential, such as inexperienced start-up enterprises or larger businesses teetering on insolvency that risk mass redundancies.
“By identifying and supporting potential gazelles through specialist advice, training and grants, the North West’s local authorities can allow these companies, many of which are in a raw state, to realise their commercial aptitude and boost the wider economy.”