SPONSORED CONTENT

The highest placed Bradford company in this year’s Top 50 of SMEs is Prestigious Textiles.

Having entered for the first time last year, the furnishing fabrics and wallpaper firm, which employs around 120 staff, remained at number seven spot this year.

The company, located at Cross Lane, Westgate Hill, has a turnover listed at more than £30.3 million, with £2.7 million profit.

The family-run company was founded in 1988 by Trevor Helliwell, who remains chairman, and is now an international operation with stockists and trading partners in Europe, China and South Africa.

Its Bradford headquarters is a 75,000 sq ft complex, described on the firm’s website as “one of the largest facilities of its type in Europe…able to hold some five million metres of fabric in stock and with a monthly capacity of 500,000 metres or more”.

Park Homes (UK) Limited moves from the 15th spot into the top ten at number eight and is the next highest Bradford-based company.

The company, which employs 350 people, is based at Brantwood Oval in the city and recorded a pre-tax profit of £2.6 million. Its turnover was £9.2million.

Formed in 1996, the company operates care homes in West Yorkshire and further afield.

The final Bradford firm in the top ten is Zenith International, which is at number nine.

The firm entered the top 50 three years ago and has been in the top ten ever since.

It’s profit before tax was £2.35 million and its turnover £36.2 million. It employs 25 staff and is based at Zenith House, Valley Court.

Described as freight forwarding specialists, the company offers air, sea and road freight services, describing itself as “a robust global shipping and transport logistics network”.

Its website says it is “large enough to deliver exceptional, reliable service, yet compact enough to understand our clients’ most specific individual requirements”.

It was founded in 2000 and has grown and expanded since then, with facilities at most major UK ports and airports and an array of UK and international clients.

The website stresses: “As we have grown, our values have stayed consistent. We maintain the same attention to detail, personal and responsive services, great value and clever and simple answers to our clients’ many complex demands.”

The winner of the T&A’s Bradford Means Business SME Business of the Year award last year Expect Distribution Limited also features in the Top 50.

The haulage and transport contractors, who specialise in pallet delivery and warehousing, moved up from 28 to 24 in the list.

The company’s pre-tax profit was more than £1.4 million, and its turnover £28.35 million.

Employing more than 260 staff, the family-owned firm is looking ahead to an even more successful year this year after opening the doors of a new 193,000 sq ft warehouse in March.

The 10 acre site of the M606 is located within a mile of Expect’s headquarters on Staithgate Lane and is the fourth warehousing facility the company has set up.

Managing Director Neil Rushworth said at the time: “This is an extremely exciting year for Expect as we continue on our development path as a multi-faceted logistics provider and we are delighted to have secured such a large prominent site, close to our current headquarters which will allow us to deliver unprecedented growth levels with our turnover in the warehousing division expected to rise from £3m to at least £5m in 2019 with total growth of the overall business projected at 20%.”

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

A large number of new entries includes three in the top five

SMEs once again lead the way

Avoid the pitfalls of selling your business

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