What Britain’s fastest-growing businesses do differently
5th August, 2026
Ask a room full of founders what it takes to build a high-growth business and you will get plenty of different answers.
Ask the leaders behind some of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses, and a different picture starts to emerge.
Across the first season of the Fastest 50 podcast, hosted by Ward Hadaway, we spoke to founders and business leaders from a diverse range of sectors. Technology. Built environment. Professional services. Businesses at different stages of growth, with different leadership styles and different ambitions.
Yet despite those differences, the same themes surfaced time and again.
The businesses achieving sustained growth were not chasing every opportunity. They were making deliberate choices. They invested in people before they needed to. They remained committed to a clear strategy, even when markets changed. And they understood that lasting success is built over years, not quarters.
They know that growth starts with focus
Many businesses are tempted to broaden their offer as they grow. The leaders we spoke to often described doing the opposite.
For Raman Sehgal, founder of ramarketing, one of the defining moments in the company’s journey came from specialising rather than trying to serve everyone.
“We were specialist, we had internationalised, we had put a CEO in place, we put a leadership team, a board structure… we just didn’t know we were ready for growth anyway.”
Growth did not arrive because the business chased every opportunity. It came because years had been spent building the foundations to support it.
That idea of disciplined focus appeared repeatedly throughout the series.
Steven Forrest, CEO of Forfusion, reflected on navigating uncertain markets by staying true to the company’s direction rather than reacting to every change around it.
“We haven’t changed our strategy. We haven’t changed the strategic direction of the business.”
There is a quiet confidence in that approach. The fastest-growing businesses are not standing still, but they are equally not constantly reinventing themselves. They understand when to adapt, and when to trust the strategy they have already committed to.
They invest in people long before they see the return
If there was one theme that united every guest, it was people.
Technology matters. Products matter. Investment matters. But none of those appeared as frequently as conversations about culture, leadership and creating environments where people can succeed.
Tom Lawson, CEO of Opencast, summed it up perfectly:
“…you’ve got to get the right people… I definitely see that a lot with other firms where founders recognise that they don’t necessarily have all of all [the skills]… no one has all of the answers, the skills, the capabilities on their own.”
That willingness to trust others becomes increasingly important as businesses grow. Founders who once made every decision themselves often spoke about learning to delegate, empower and build leadership teams capable of taking the business further than any one individual could.
Mark Thompson of Ryder highlighted the importance of creating the right environment for people to thrive, describing the need to build “the environment and the structures, frameworks, whatever you can do, to let people, encourage people, and give them the freedom within certain guardrails, I guess to fulfil their potential”
These conversations moved well beyond recruitment. They were about purpose, communication, ownership and creating cultures that continue to perform as organisations become larger and more complex.
They prepare for growth before it arrives
One of the biggest misconceptions about high-growth businesses is that success happens suddenly. The conversations throughout season one suggest the opposite.
The breakthrough moments often came after years of preparation. New governance structures. Better leadership teams. International expansion. Investment in systems. Difficult strategic decisions that only revealed their value later.
When growth eventually accelerated, these businesses were ready for it.
That preparation also meant making decisions that were uncomfortable in the short term but valuable over the long term. Whether narrowing a market focus, investing during uncertain periods or resisting pressure to change direction, the leaders we spoke to consistently demonstrated patience and conviction.
Perhaps that is one of the biggest lessons from the series. The fastest-growing businesses are not necessarily the ones moving fastest every single day. They are the ones making consistently good decisions over many years.
Growth is about more than numbers
Revenue growth may be what earns businesses a place in the Fastest 50 Awards, but it was rarely the thing our guests were most passionate about discussing.
Instead, they talked about building great places to work. Developing future leaders. Supporting customers. Creating businesses that outlast their founders. Remaining curious. Continuing to learn.
Growth, in other words, is a consequence rather than the objective. It is the result of thousands of decisions made long before the headline figures appear.
That perspective is exactly what the Fastest 50 podcast sets out to explore.
Each episode goes beyond the awards, rankings and growth statistics to uncover the decisions, turning points and leadership lessons behind some of the UK’s most ambitious businesses. If you want practical insight from founders and business leaders who have scaled organisations through uncertainty, change and opportunity, the Fastest 50 podcast offers conversations that are honest, thoughtful and grounded in real experience.
Listen to the Fastest 50 podcast
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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