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This year, the Top 50 SMEs list has seen a large number of new entries appearing in the list – 16 in total, including three out of the top five.
Of those new entrants, five are in manufacturing and four are in the service sector.
The highest new entry is D&M Middleton of Cleckheaton, who are manufacturers of vehicle mats, who came second.
Joining them are Red Embedded Holdings in Shipley at number three, and another Cleckheaton firm, Orean Personal Care Limited at number five.
D&M Middleton was established in 1967 by Don and Margaret Middleton. They initially converted carpet into car mats by hand.
According to the website, their reputation was quickly established as a quality producer of automotive carpet driven by Don’s engineering background and Margaret’s keen organisational skills.
Supplying customers such as Aston Martin, Ford Motor Company; TVR; Austin Rover; Halfords and Tesco, the business laid its foundations and started to grow.
Now, it has a majority market share supplying car mats to the largest and best-known retailers in the UK, producing around three million sets of car mats a year.
Based at the Middleton Business Park on Cartwright Street, Cleckheaton, it describes itself as an integral part of the local community.
The company formed a ‘Sewing Academy’ was formed this year to bridge the gap in skills of the local labour pool and to help train and upskill the existing workforce.
Its pre-tax profit was just over £4 million.
Red Embedded Holdings Limited
Red Embedded Holdings Limited is described as providing software and hardware services covering strategic research, design and development and integration strategy.
Founded by five engineering leaders from Saltaire-based Digital TV specialists Pace Micro in 2003, Red Embedded Consulting is a professional services company providing a wide range of technology-led consultancy services.
The company has bases in Wroclaw in Poland and Los Angeles as well as its Shipley base on Otley Road.
Its turnover was more than £16.1 million, with £3.64 million profit. It employs 89 staff.
Marketing director Stuart Griffin said: “We’re seeing strong demand from our clients due to the way the market for them is increasingly more complex and dynamic - it’s driving a real surge in the need for innovation on their technology.
“We work with some of the largest cable and satellite operators in the world, in fact, most of our business is export."
"They need to evolve their technology quickly to compete with the likes of Netflix and Prime."
“Like many tech businesses in the Bradford district, we are growing - our recruitment drive is too. It’s a very exciting time for the region, we believe this is a great place to work and live!”
In fifth place is Orean Personal Care Limited, a health and beauty product manufacturing company based again in Cleckheaton.
Managing director Dan Williams says he has a talented senior management team with more than 60 years of experience in the health and beauty manufacturing industry between them.
The company recorded pre-tax profits of £2.9 million, with a turnover of £15.6 million and employs 98 staff.
Mr Williams said: “We’ve experienced a lot of change at Orean Personal Care over the past 10 years, however, one thing that has never changed is our commitment and desire to support and help our customers build incredible brands.
“In that time we’ve seen Orean go from a loss-making business to a business that is currently on track to deliver sales in excess of £20m in 2019, £5m up from 2018.”
He says that success is down to several factors, including keeping employees as their priority, aiming to over exceed expectations and build strong, long-lasting relationships which allow growth from referrals alone, and focussing on competencies and strategies “to allow us to go from good to great in the niche we’re defining”.
Mr Williams added: “We focus on managing our existing customer base. We focus on Premium Hair Care and Premium Skin Care and look to only work with Brand Owners. We love working with start-ups and welcome the opportunity to work with established brands if it’s the right fit.”
The company has recently set up a manufacturing site in the US in South Holland, Illinois to service existing UK partners.
Have you read our other features in the Top 50 SMEs series?
What it takes to make it on to the list of top 50 SMEs
Avoid the pitfalls of selling your business
Award-winning firms are the fabric of Bradford’s success
Why SMEs provide a great place to work
Firm is tailor-made for the top spot in SME list
Why R&D tax relief is not just for scientists
See more from BHP Chartered Accountants at www.bhp.co.uk
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