Sunday Times 100 Tech list features five North West firms
Oxbury Bank focuses on lending to farmers(Image: Getty Images)
A Cheshire bank focused on farmers has been named as one of Britain’s fastest-growing software firms. Oxbury Bank launched in 2021 to serve businesses in the rural economy, including farms and other firms focused on agriculture.
Now it has been named the third fastest-growing software company in the UK in the latest Sunday Times 100 Tech list. Its annual sales growth rate over the last three years was 399%, with a latest annual revenue figure of £112.5m from its interest income.
Since 2021, Oxbury has lent more than £1.5 billion and attracted £2.5 billion in savings. It has also developed its Earth technology platform and funding to reward farmers on their work improving soil health and cutting carbon emissions.
Co-founders James Farrar, 59, and Nick Evans, 62, have raised more than £162 million from agricultural and technology-focused investors.
In Oxbury Bank’s accounts for 2024, CEO James Farrar said: “Oxbury continues to grow by being part of the sector that’s part of us. Our focus on lending to the agricultural market, the rural economy and the food supply chain is more than just the foundation of our continued growth, it is a focus that has also attracted some of the best and most progressive customers in our sector.”
He added: “Our pipeline of business for the Bank remains very healthy as our trading continues to help establish Oxbury as one of the mainstream lenders to the sector in the UK. The team has also increased during the year to 218 as we build our business and we have again doubled the number of borrowing accounts.”
The Sunday Times 100 Tech list focuses on independent privately-owned firms that are headquartered in the UK. The overall list was topped by London fintech Abound, which recorded an annual sales growth rate of 490%.
Abound therefore topped the list’s software category, with AI procurement platform Vertice third and Oxbury third. The hardware category was topped by London’s Fuse Energy, with an annual sales growth rate of 484% over the past three years.
Four other North West firms feature in the list: Blackpool’s banking fintech Tandem, with an annual sales growth rate of 84.7%; Lancaster supply chain sensor business System Loco (64%): Warrington fibre infrastructure specialist ITS (54.7%); and Manchester drug molecule visualisation firm C4X Discovery (45.7%).
The research found the 100 companies on the list had collectively generated sales of £3.7 billion, up £3 billion in the last three years. The companies employ 23,100 people, with 11,600 new jobs created in the last three years. Research was carried out by Sunday Times reporters alongside private company data specialist Beauhurst.
Jon Yeomans, business editor of The Sunday Times, said: “Despite a challenging economic backdrop, Britain’s tech sector continues to produce businesses of extraordinary ambition and momentum. This year’s Sunday Times 100 Tech highlights founders who are scaling at remarkable speed, creating thousands of jobs and exporting British innovation to the world. From fintech and AI to energy and life sciences, these companies show that the UK remains one of the most dynamic technology ecosystems globally.”
