Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 23rd September
Miri and Phil
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00:00Coming up, in the North East, the tech growth list is revealed and business owners voice
00:06some concerns ahead of the autumn budget, Quorn announces its latest figures and look
00:11at the week ahead. Welcome to Insider's Business Briefing.
00:15Well, good morning. I'm Phil Cunliffe. I'm Mary Thomas.
00:23And together we're going to look at some of the news headlines from this morning and a
00:27little bit of a look ahead to what's coming up in the week. So, Mary, if I can, we're
00:35very, very pleased to be publishing today our annual list of the highest growth tech
00:42businesses in the North East. There are 40 companies on the list and all of them have
00:50had very impressive growth over the year. And they've been ranked according to the percentage
00:57growth over the course of the year on their published figures.
01:01Top of the pile is North East-based Kratos Communications. They're a military security
01:10and defence supplier of products in various sectors in that field, if you like. And they've
01:21seen an enormous amount of increase in turnover, just under 200%, which is really amazing.
01:28So, there are some familiar names on the list. Chromec Group, for example, Leighton Group
01:34are both in the top five. And also, there's a very interesting business at number five,
01:40which is a less well-known one, but perhaps I think we'll be reading a little bit more
01:44about and that's Opencast Software. Well, I think they're at number two actually,
01:48Phil. They are indeed. So, Miri, I think you met
01:53up with Tom Lawson. That's right. So, I spoke with Tom for our
01:56North East magazine and he was telling me about the company's purpose and how that's
02:01really embedded into everything that they do. But he also revealed plans for maybe some
02:06more acquisitions and their own plans there at Opencast as well. So, have a look in that.
02:11In our latest issue, North East Business Insider should be on desks this week. But I know that
02:16you are speaking with company number five on the list, aren't you?
02:19Yes, I am. That's David Bryce from Clear Data. Alongside the list, we'll be running some
02:26interviews. I'm the first one of which I'm interviewing David Bryce. That's going to
02:30be published next Monday of Clear Data. It's a fascinating business and well worth a read.
02:38And so, look out for the story. It's well worth having a look at that list. And also,
02:45apart from the interviews, we're also going to be doing a roundtable on the 5th of December,
02:50I think it is. So, if you're on that list and you want to be involved, please let me
02:55know and we'll issue an invitation for that. Great. Well, we're staying in the North East
03:02for the next one. Well, the North East or North Yorkshire, whichever way you like to
03:05look at it. So, Stokesley-based Korn or the owner of Korn, they've actually reported what
03:11they're calling a challenging year. So, losses widened. I think the year before it was something
03:16like a £15 million loss. Now, it's close to a £63 million loss. So, they're calling
03:22it a challenging year and they're blaming inflationary pressures. They're also saying
03:27that the cost of living crisis in the UK and the US hit retail sales. So, yeah, and also
03:34sales were down. So, as I said, they were down to £205 million. They were a bit more
03:40than that the year before. Yeah. So, it'll be interesting to see what the underlying
03:44reasons for that is and whether that's an ongoing trend as we move into next year for
03:49businesses like Korn. One to keep our eyes on. Yeah, absolutely. I want to stay in the
03:55North East. Yesterday, I was chairing the North East Business Owners Forum where we
04:00gathered a group of business leaders in the region from diverse set of businesses. Actually,
04:05we had recruiters, we had construction companies, we had a shipping company as well. So, a good
04:12diverse set of people. And the overall mood was pretty positive actually. They've all
04:20had good years, all increased revenue. But there was a little bit of a concern over what
04:26might happen on the 30th of October. Of course, it's the autumn budget when the Chancellor
04:30reveals what their plans are for the coming year. So, one or two concerns over what might
04:36happen over tax on that. But that given, they're all suggesting that whatever is going to be
04:43revealed then, what they really want is certainty that that is the direction of travel and they
04:49can then therefore plan accordingly for the next phase of their development. So, yeah,
04:56positivity but a little bit of a concern there. Well, we get our own sort of barometer of the
05:02sort of sentiment in the North East. You and I are both North East dealmakers on Thursday. Yeah,
05:05always a great night. Very much looking forward to it. Yeah, me too. So, also looking forward to
05:11in a week ahead on our newsletter will be news from Raspberry Pi. So, if you remember, they
05:15floated just at the beginning of the summer around June time. So, this will be the first time they're
05:19releasing their results to the city. So, we'll keep our eyes out for that. We can also expect
05:26results from the wholesaler Supreme. So, they're known for sort of batteries and vape products,
05:30that sort of thing. They're updating the city as well this week on Tuesday. Card Factory also
05:37releasing their results. So, we'll see how the high street is doing there. And we can expect a
05:42trading update from the holiday specialist on the beach on Thursday. So, watch out for those all on
05:49our newsletter in the coming week. Absolutely. So, if you want to read more about all those sort of
05:55stories and everything else we've got coming on at Insider, not only in the North East but elsewhere
06:00around the country, go to insidermedia.com, have a look around and see what we've got coming up.
06:05But that's it from us. Hope you've enjoyed it and we'll see you again soon.