Over the last few years THG has demonstrated impressive growth - and despite establishing itself around the globe, has also worked to maintain a strong presence in the UK. Since its IPO in 2020, the business has more than doubled its revenue, and over the years THG has built 16 fulfilment centres internationally - as well as production facilities in the UK, US and Europe. THG has continued to invest in its production and fulfilment facilities, to ensure that customers get nothing but high quality products and the best service possible.

Twisted Loom is a business that creates handcrafted homewares and furniture - using materials locally sourced in Britain. Founded in 2020, all of Twisted Loom’s materials are sourced within 40 miles of its Manchester office - with wool from one of England’s oldest mills and sustainably sourced wood - and also has its lamps and furniture legs hand-turned in Manchester. In doing so, Twisted Loom is able to provide customers with high quality products, while supporting British suppliers and staying as eco-friendly as possible.

Founded in 1948, Wilcox Limousines has been committed to the design and manufacture of first-class vehicles for 75 years. Wilcox’s vehicles are handcrafted and all produced entirely in Britain - maintaining a long commitment to producing locally and supporting the local economy. Despite its long history Wilcox is determined to innovate and change with the times - continually investing in new ways to manufacture with greater accuracy and quality - and even planning a move to a fully electric fleet in the future.

Ashleigh Holmes is one of the co-founders of Flowd - a B2B marketing business that provides clients with the perfect strategy that they need to thrive. In less than two years, Ashleigh has helped guide and grow the business - taking it from a team of two to a team of 17, and working with clients like H&M, IKEA and Chanel. Ashleigh has worked to build a supportive work environment that encourages team members to pursue their passions and work in a way that maximises their potential.

Hayley is one of the founders of Knight Transaction Services - the only all-female led financial advisory team in the North West. Since its founding 18 months ago, Hayley has helped drive the business to great success - establishing an international client base and far exceeding targets for its first year of operations. Taking a big risk in leaving a secure job to launch a new company, Hayley’s confidence, dedication and skill have been instrumental in making KTS a thriving business.

Despite only having been part of the consulting world for less than 12 months, Kyle has already achieved outstanding results. Working at IBM, Kyle has strived to constantly hone his skills and produce - having already completed six different qualifications and more than 100 hours of internal organisation. This commitment and passion for his work has led to Kyle being made a team leader - in addition to which he has taken on responsibilities as an Early Professional Black Campaign Lead, leading on projects to improve D&I and allyship at IBM.

In 2022, Shoaib Ahmed set up Yello Hippo - a branding agency that works with businesses to help them make smart and successful use of LinkedIn. In a short span of time Shoaib has helped make Yello Hippo a force to be reckoned with - with some accomplishments including producing more than 4000 posts for clients, helping clients gain more than 220,000 new followers, and generating more than 100 million LinkedIn views. Shoaib has created a network of connections with business owners and industry professionals, building a business community that can share knowledge and become more effective together.

Civic Engineers is a business with a firm commitment to delivering building projects that are capable of serving communities while remaining as environmentally friendly as possible. Working on civic, transport and structural projects, the business employs a number of methods to lower its carbon footprint - retrofitting, reusing and recycling materials on projects such as Mayfield Park, where Civic Engineers used as many of the former industrial estate’s buildings as possible - saving 36 tonnes of carbon in those structures alone, and planting trees and plants designed to maximise biodiversity.

Nippon Electric Glass endeavours to provide products essential to everyday life in a way that is efficient and sustainable. As a manufacturer of glass for use in a wide range of fields including construction, NEG is mindful of the need to produce sustainably - committed to reducing CO2 emissions and production intensity by 60% by 2030, and to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. NEG is constantly investing in new ways to manufacture more efficiently - including research on furnaces to decarbonise the glass manufacture industry as a whole.

Founded in 1999, Synapse 360 is a cloud and data protection business with a longstanding commitment to being an environmentally friendly employer. Synapse aims to be carbon neutral by 2025 - and is working to support the local environment on the Isle of Man and throughout the UK. The business uses renewable energy across many of its premises, provides employees with a paid leave day to work on community projects - and also collaborates with environmental organisations to raise awareness for their causes and the importance of sustainability.

Diversity Travel is a specialist travel management company that has achieved impressive growth over the years. Founded in 2008, the business works with clients in the charity, humanitarian, and not-for-profit sectors - growing to serve more than 2000 organisations with a team of 240. Even faced with the challenges of the pandemic, Diversity Travel was able to open a division focused on student group travel, expand into Europe, and onboard more than 150 new customers. Despite seeing such impressive growth, Diversity Travel also became a carbon neutral business in 2011.

Producing a range of protein powders, bars and supplements through two popular brands - Bodybuilding Warehouse and Warrior - KBF Enterprises has shown the determination and ambition necessary to thrive. The business is always investing in growth - particularly in NPD and manufacturing - with KBF now producing a range of more than 100 sports nutrition products in house. The business currently produces over 15 million protein bars in a year, selling its brands in stores across the UK and in more than 25 countries across the globe.

A lending and investment business that serves SMEs across the UK, Praetura Group has shown itself capable of consistently achieving impressive results. The business became a group in 2021, and has demonstrated consistent growth and investment since - consistently increasing turnover, building its VC portfolio, and bringing more than £550 million of assets under the management of Praetura. To keep up with this growth, Praetura Group has also expanded its team significantly - doubling its employee count to 146 in just 18 months.

Corin Dalby co-founded Box Power in 2014 with his wife Tricia. The energy consultancy company works with a wide range of clients, specialising in the care sector - and donates 100% of its profits to charities working across the UK. Corin was inspired to set up Box Power after his son was diagnosed with autism, and they found it difficult to properly access special needs services. Since then, Power Box has helped a range of charities - raising £800,000 across 2021 and 2022 for their chosen causes.

For years, Javeno Mclean has been dedicated to serving his community, and helping those in need. For 22 years, Javeno has trained a range of clients with additional needs - such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and people living with cancer - providing these sessions completely free of charge. Javeno is the founder of the J7 community health centre, which works to provide these services to anyone in the community who needs them - giving people in need a chance to take control of their health and fitness, and in turn improve their emotional and social wellbeing.

For nine years, Jessica Rigby has been an invaluable presence at the charity Cash For Kids - which supports young people who are struggling with poverty, neglect, illness and more. Jessica became the charity manager at the start of the pandemic - and despite taking over in a time of particularly great need, has led Cash For Kids to continue its vital work. Jesisca’s positivity and passion for her work make her an incredible example not just to the children she helps, but to her team - inspiring those around her every single day.

Founded in 1999, Apex Self Storage is an independent self-storage business going through an exciting period of growth. Over two decades, the business has established eight locations across the North East, and has only continued to grow in recent years - hitting record turnover in 2022, reaching more than 90% occupancy at all of its sites, and taking on a new site for an additional 20,000 square feet of space. Key to Apex’s growth is its efforts to create a positive work environment and support employees - with ample opportunities to grow and fulfil their potential.

Flowd is an email prospecting business that endeavours to make smart use of technology to produce personalised and highly effective email campaigns. Producing campaigns for other businesses, Flowd uses Ai to tailor its emails to each client, providing leads and value as efficiently as possible. Alongside new tech, Flowd invests in its employees - creating an environment in which they can thrive through personal learning plans. This focus on making sure that its teams and tech work as effectively as possible has helped Flowd grow, with the business recently hitting the £1 million turnover mark.

As a shipping software platform, Shipster grew from a one-off project into a successful business in its own right. The platform is used by over 100 retailers, and ships tens of millions of parcels a year. Shipster has seen impressive growth recently, increasing its head count by 14 and growing turnover by 40%. The Shipster team is key to this success, and the business works to provide them with the support they need to achieve outstanding results - and as a result the business has averaged a growth of 51% per year since 2019.

The Strong Agency is a PR & Communications business based in Manchester, that has achieved great success in the face of significant challenges. Founded in 2019, despite facing the pandemic not long into its life, The Strong Agency was able to weather that storm to achieve a 199% increase in turnover between 2020-2022. The business also expanded its client base by 54% - and expanded into seven new sectors including B2B. The tenacity of the team at The Strong Agency helped it survive and even thrive during an extremely challenging time.

Despite more than a century in business, Lookers PLC is always working to innovate and work more efficiently. Founded in 1908, the car dealership partnered with AND Digital to address the need to access vehicle supply during a time of increased demand for used vehicles. Together, the businesses were able to create a digital tool that allowed users to value and sell a vehicle directly - opening up a new source of supply, providing customers with a quick, easy and transparent process, and giving Lookers an edge in a competitive market.

Matrix iQ works to help motor insurers and fleet businesses improve efficiency, safety, and environmental impact. One way Matrix achieved this recently was through its work to make it far easier for fleets to use telematics to assess risk. Matrix developed a data aggregation solution that pulls data from existing devices and provides a comprehensive summary - allowing insurers to assess risk and incentivise safe driving. Not only did this make drivers safer, it saved approximately 13,000 telematics devices from landfill, and avoided approximately 840 tons of carbon emissions in the construction of new ones.

N Brown is a digital clothing and homeware company that specialises in creating inclusive ranges of clothing that fit a range of sizes and customers. To achieve this, N Brown has developed a digital tool that uses body scan data to analyse and create the perfect fit. The digital fit technology takes over 200 individual body measurements, and allows for the creation of 3D avatars - providing an accurate representation of a garment’s fit and allowing for extensive testing and workshopping before a single sample is ever created.

Prevayl is a business that works to properly utilise insights and data from the human body, in an effort to help people improve their performance and wellbeing. The business has created smartwear that monitors user data with an ECG and transforms it into easily understandable insights. This detailed information can give users a deeper understanding of their own bodies, and help them reach fitness and wellness goals more effectively. Prevayl’s commitment to innovation has helped the business grow, going from a team of 5 to 50, and building a roster of over 250 patents.

As the managing director of ITECCO Limited, Connor Walsh has helped lead the tech recruitment company to great success throughout its lifetime. In the last 18 months, Connor has driven the business’ plan for growth - overseeing the opening of two new offices in Austin, Texas. Connor also grew the team at ITECCO from two people in 2017 to 50 in 2019 - and again to 130 since - and has helped support that team in fulfilling their potential and advancing their careers.

Corin Dalby is the co-founder of Power Box - an energy consultancy that donates 100% of profits to charities and worthy causes across the uk. Corin set up the charity after experiencing difficulty access special needs services for his son - and being inspired to help such charities and services reach more people. Since Power Box was founded in 2014, the business has raised money for a wide range of charities - and across 2021 and 2022 alone was able to raise £800,000 for good causes.

Sara Jones founded Centre of Excellence in 2012, with the intention of making affordable learning accessible to everyone. Recognising the potential of online learning, Sara adapted lessons that she had taught in person for delivery online. Since then Centre of Excellence has grown to offer more than 1000 courses - in subjects ranging from languages to child education to animal health - offering a learning experience that fits a variety of lifestyles. Sara’s work has helped more than 1.5 million learners across 150 countries learn in a way that suits and enriches their lives.

Since it was founded in 2015, Auto Trader UK has come to employ more than 1000 people, and works to create an environment in which every employee can thrive. The business has a strong commitment to internal development - with a learning academy platform that provides career support opportunities, and more than 19,000 hours of learning delivered over the last year. Auto Trader also recently set up two talent development programmes - ‘Inclusive Leadership’ helps employees learn to manage diverse teams in an inclusive way, while ‘diverse talent accelerator’ improves opportunities to move into leadership roles.

GovNet is one of the UK’s leading providers of public sector events and training courses - and is dedicated to providing its staff with a positive working environment. GovNet has engaged in a range of initiatives to improve employee wellbeing and engagement - among other things distributing over 75% of profits to employees, modernising leave benefits, investing in a counselling service, introducing flexible working and setting up a new sales apprentice scheme. Through these initiatives and more, GovNet has been able to create an environment in which people are truly enthusiastic and passionate about their work.

Junkyard Golf is a business committed to providing a welcoming and encouraging work environment, and to helping employees achieve a successful work-life balance. In the last year the business has doubled its investment in training, with a programme that aims to identify and offer progression opportunities that work for every employee. Junkyard Golf also set up an additional programme aimed at helping employees develop a range of life skills - from sign language to money management. The business also offers a 24/7 confidential wellbeing service to help members of the team take proper care of their mental health.

As one of the UK’s largest broadband providers, TalkTalk is a business with around 2000 employees - and works to be an inclusive and welcoming employer. Among other initiatives, the business set up a range of employee networks - for women, lgbt employees, disabled employees, veterans and more - designed to give these communities a voice at TalkTalk and help it become a more accessible organisation. TalkTalk also engages in committed diversity training, and has signed up to the Tech Talent Charter - which provides businesses with the resources and connections needed to improve their diversity and inclusion offerings.

GreatDrams is an award winning producer of limited edition whiskies, selling to customers in the UK and around the world. The business recently landed contracts in China and Japan to produce limited edition ranges available only in those countries - with the business creating bespoke labels in their local languages to better connect with consumers, and doing the same in marketing materials. GreatDrams is also an acclaimed brand internationally - having been named Independent Bottler of the Year at the World Spirits Competition, and winning Double Gold at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco.

With more than 40 years of experience, MattressTek manufactures machinery for the mattress industry designed to maximise efficiency and productivity, MattressTek works with customers around the world, exporting to the US, Asia, Australia and Europe - with plans to further expand its exports in these areas. Recently, the business has engaged in a number of international exhibitions to strengthen its relationship to these markets. Taking pride as a British manufacturer, MattressTek builds all of its machines to exacting standards - ensuring that the products it exports are only of the highest quality.

THG is an e-commerce company that sells a wide range of products to customers around the world. With production and manufacturing facilities in the US and Europe as well as the UK, and online retail enabling purchases from continents away, the business works to maintain a strong international presence. THG has invested in its fulfilment networks across the globe, with fulfilment centres delivering to 195 locations internationally. THG also invests in its production facilities to ensure that they are able to meet the demands of a global market.

Manchester Central is one of the UK’s biggest and most versatile event venues - seeing more than a quarter of a million visitors each year. With over 23,000m2 of space and a capacity of 10,000, the centre is able to host a vast array of events - including a prime ministerial hustings, ITV’s Ninja Warrior, Chinese New Year Parades and the Rugby World Cup Wheelchair Final to name just a few. This versatility helps draw tourists and events alike to Manchester, with Manchester Central contributing almost £100 million to the local economy in the last year.

Box Power CIC was founded in 2014 by Corin and Tricia Dalby, with the aim of helping charities meet the needs of those using their services. The business is an energy consultancy that works with a range of companies across the UK - most often with care operators - and donates 100% of profits to charitable causes. To date, Box Power has donated more than £1 million to more than 30 different charities - including Bolton Hospice and the women and children’s refuge Fortalice.

Don Giovanni is one of Manchester's oldest independent restaurants - with almost 40 years of serving authentic Italian cuisine to the community. During the pandemic, the restaurant worked tirelessly to maintain operations while also supporting the company. Turning its cover room into a dark kitchen, Don Giovanni was able to support the local online vegan food company Wawin Vegan - while donating much of its own stock to local charities, churches and missions. The business also partnered with Eat Well Mcr to provide 5000 meals for people in challenging circumstances.

Based in Manchester, Embryo is a search-first marketing agency dedicated to driving growth for its clients. Since it was founded in 2015, Embryo has undergone rapid growth - particularly in the last year. From 2022 to 2023 the business took on 57 new clients, representing a significant increase in revenue. In order to meet this demand Embryo has also been active in recruiting and helping employees develop, hiring 26 new team members and promoting 21 others. As such Embryo is confident that it can capitalise on this growth and continue to meet the demands of the future.

Founded in 1996, Sambro is a toy supplier that works with a wide range of clients across the globe. With 25 years of experience, the business has built up an extensive range of products including novelty toys, creative play, stationary, plush toys and more - building long standing relationships with brands including Mattel, Disney and Hasbro in addition to its own toy lines. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Sambro’s most recent year has been one of its most successful - growing and developing the strength of its team, and strengthening its relationships with key licensing partners.

Sellick Partnership is a professional services recruitment company dedicated to finding the right person for the right role. Founded in 2002, the business specialises in finance, accountancy, ICT and digital tech, housing and property services, legal, HR roles and more. In recent years Sellick has seen impressive success - with 2022 representing its 12th consecutive year of growth. The business has increased its turnover, employee count and number of contractors out on assignment - and plans to further build on this success to better serve clients and employees alike.