BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
MICROCHIPS, miners and media – not to mention Man and the master of temporary power supplies Aggreko. This year’s shortlist for Business of the Year crosses sectors, but the finalists share ambition, innovation and bold decision-taking. Old and new, none are resting on their laurels or copying the past: all are looking to the future.
Don’t miss the City event of the year – get online now and book your table for the City A.M. Awards on 21 September 2011 at Grange St Paul’s Hotel, London EC4. www.CityAMAwards.com
AGGREKO
Aggreko dominates global provision of temporary power, and the tragedy of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has helped to shine the spotlight on a company whose growth is much more broadly based. Aggreko now employs over 3,800 people in 148 locations, In 2010 Aggreko served customers in about 100 countries, and had revenues of approximately £1.2bn. Aggreko has a market cap of £5bn. Its value is now well over double that of its pre-crash high, with almost all of its growth organic. Its shares have been fast moving throughout the year.
Not only good for emergencies, Aggreko has been appointed by the London Olympic organising committee to be the exclusive supplier of temporary energy services.
ARM
HOLDINGS
Arm Holdings was the star of the Las Vegas tech show in January. At the event, Microsoft announced that it would be designing its new operating system with Arm chips in mind.
The Cambridge-based microchip company has had a great year. One of the world’s leading semiconductor intellectual property suppliers, chips developed by Arm feature in 95 per cent of the world’s mobile phones. Already supplying the “brains” of the iPhone and the original iPad, Arm had another coup when it was announced that their chips would be used in the iPad 2.
Headquartered in Cambridge, where the company began life in a converted turkey shed 20 years ago, the firm now employs more than 1,700 people world-wide.
BSKYB
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB) has had a good year, seeing strong growth, despite its already dominant market position. Last year, Sky had a turnover of £5.9bn, nosing it ahead of the BBC.
The elephant in the room has been the potential for the government to block News Corporation’s proposed takeover of Sky. Competition anxieties have dogged the proposed deal, and kept BSkyB in the headlines.
However, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to give the nod to the move, having received a report on the deal from regulator Ofcom. Should News Corp be cleared for the takeover, one of the potential barriers to another successful year will have been removed.
MAN GROUP
Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund, has seen its assets under management increase throughout the year, first boosted by sales in Japan and then through its acquisition of GLG Partners.
Man Group bought GLG for $1.6bn (£977m) in October last year. The acquisition allowed the fund to increase its assets by 75 per cent in the year. The GLG purchase was seen as an effective rebalancing of the firm, which critics previously saw as being too reliant on computer-driven trading programme AHL.
Although the macro shock of the Japanese earthquake brought volatility that hit Man Group initially, in May the firm said it had raised $1.5bn for an open-ended Japan fund, smashing analysts’ forecasts. Assets under management lifted three per cent to $71bn (£43.5bn) in the period to the end of March this year.
WEIR GROUP
Operating in the minerals, oil and gas, and power sectors, the Weir Group is well set to benefit from infrastructure development and growing global energy needs.
With a market capitalisation now well over £4bn, Weir became a FTSE entry in the last six months and has continued to power up the lists.
Weir is riding high, making the most of a commodities boom and the growth in shale gas exploration. The oil and gas division designs and manufactures pumps and ancillary equipment for oil and gas markets, providing aftermarket service and support activities.
With exposure to multiple sectors all set to continue their growth trends, Weir Group looks set to go from strength to strength. A British engineer making the most of its expertise, Weir is a success story that looks set to continue.