Stockport technology firm leads North West Fastest 50

The IT and data centre infrastructure business topped this year’s list with an average annual turnover growth of 154.83%, securing both the overall title and the award for the fastest growing large business.

Held in Manchester on Friday 10 July in partnership with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the awards recognise the 50 best performing privately-owned and profitable companies in the North West, ranked by average annual turnover growth over the past three financial years.

This year’s event brought together founders, business owners, advisers and regional leaders to recognise the companies turning ambition into growth across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria.

The awards also featured a panel discussion led by Ward Hadaway’s Paul Johnson, which examined what growth now demands from businesses and the people backing them.

Paul was joined by Matt Ryan, Head of Corporate North West at Barclays Corporate Banking, Ryan Bevington, Partner at Maven, and Ryan Niblock, Director of Corporate Finance at Crowe UK, with the panel covering funding, investment, management teams and the decisions businesses need to make as they scale.

The panel looked at what separates businesses that continue to grow from those that plateau, how funding conditions are changing and what banks, investors and corporate finance advisers are looking for from ambitious companies in the current market.

Together, the 50 companies recorded a combined turnover of £2.66bn and an increase of £1.55bn from the first set of accounts to the latest. Average growth across the full list was 60.08%, while six businesses recorded growth of more than 100%.

The figures also point to the role fast growing businesses are playing as employers across the region. The 50 companies employed 7,682 people in their latest financial year, almost 2,000 more than three years earlier.

Fourteen companies on this year’s list also appeared in the 2025 Fastest 50, while 17 have appeared on a previous North West list, showing the number of businesses continuing to build on earlier growth.

Liz Bottrill, Executive Partner in Ward Hadaway’s Manchester office, who addressed the guests at the invite-only event said: “Every business on this list has earned its place. To grow in the way these companies have done takes judgement, nerve and a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

“The growth figures matter, of course they do, but they are not the whole story. What is just as important is the ambition behind them and the people who have chosen to back that ambition, often when the easier option would have been to stay where they are.

“That is why the Fastest 50 is such a clear example of what we mean by backing ambition. These awards recognise businesses that are investing in people, premises, systems, customers and new markets, and making decisions that will have a huge influence on the North West economy for years to come.

“Backing ambition is easy to understand when we are talking about fast growing businesses. But ambition starts much earlier than that. It starts with people who need a chance, support at the right time and someone willing to believe in what they could become.

“When businesses do well, there is a responsibility to put some of that success back into the people and places around them. That is how the North West keeps building momentum.”

Alongside Vesper Technologies, which designs and supplies data centre infrastructure and IT hardware solutions, the large business category recognised Dragonpass International, an Altrincham-based travel business and 2025’s overall winner, and TAG Systems UK, a Leyland-based manufacturing business specialising in payment, gift and loyalty cards.

McCrory Construction Group, which hails from Macclesfield, was named the fastest-growing medium-sized business. The medium-sized category also celebrated Burnley technology business Excotek and Liverpool leisure operator Hot Water Comedy Club.

CareConcepts, a Congleton-headquartered care home business, won the small business category. Manchester retail business Accessory World (GG) and Cockermouth construction and engineering business GDB Civils also received recognition among the small business winners.

The spread of winners reflected the wider shape of this year’s list, from technology and travel to construction, care, manufacturing, retail and leisure. Construction and engineering businesses made up the largest share of the Fastest 50, with retail and leisure also strongly represented.

Emma Holt, incoming CEO of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, added: “The Fastest 50 is a real celebration of the businesses helping to drive the North West economy.

“The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce engages with 35,000 businesses each year and is proud to work closely with businesses and business leaders to support the growth of the economy and the prosperity for people which goes with that.

“Every company on the list has had to make decisions, seize opportunities and manage the pressures that come with growth. That takes strong leadership and good people, and it deserves huge recognition.

“We are thrilled to support these awards and to help celebrate businesses that are creating jobs, investing in their future and contributing to the success of the wider region.”

The Ward Hadaway North West Fastest 50 Awards are objectively compiled using data sourced from Companies House and ranked by the biggest average annual growth in turnover.

Click here to view the full list of 2026’s Ward Hadaway North West Fastest 50 businesses.