RSK wins a place in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200

RSK has earned a place in the prestigious Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table published on 21 February 2021.

The twelfth annual Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table ranks Britain’s mid-market companies (with total sales of between £25 million and £1 billion) based on their growth in international sales, measured over the last two years’ worth of available data. The newspaper has also released a supplement and a research report to support the COVID-19 edition.

RSK was ranked at 106 among the 200 companies after achieving £281.9 million total sales and £67.4 million international sales in financial year 2019/2020. This equates to 37.06% growth in international sales per annum on average over the last two years. The research report acknowledges RSK’s strong growth through strategic acquisitions and references its ambitious £1 billion by 2025 revenue target.

The supplement expands, “This Cheshire firm is providing technical engineering work for the $500 billion (£365 billion) Neom desert city project in Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1989 by Chief Executive Alan Ryder, RSK helps customers assess their environmental impact and offers engineering and technical services to companies in energy, infrastructure, construction and manufacturing. International sales hit an annualised £67.4 million in the year to April 2020, fuelled by acquisitions.”

RSK, headquartered in Helsby, Cheshire, acquired 11 businesses in the financial year 2019/2020 and has so far acquired a further 11 businesses in the current 2020/2021 financial year. Most recently, this has included established rope-access company CAS Ltd and Black & Veatch’s UK and Asia water businesses, now called Binnies, both acquired in January 2021.

RSK Chief Executive Officer Alan Ryder comments, “We are proud to feature in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200. Despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, we remain committed to our green growth plan, which will see us invest in many more companies, including international businesses, over the coming months and years. These acquisitions, paired with strong organic growth, will help us to realise our 2025 growth plan and our diversification ambition: to become the largest privately owned environmental and engineering business in Europe; to turn over £1 billion annually; and to employ 10,000 people.

“We congratulate the other companies on this list. We are proud to be in the company of so many other British success stories.”

A total of 21 companies headquartered in the north west of England have made the grade to be included in the league table and, like RSK, they have all have made a significant contribution to the regional economy over the last two years.

The average international sales growth over the last two years for the 200 companies was 55% a year, to a total of £8.7 billion on combined total sales of £19.1 billion. They export to all parts of the globe and employ 107,000 staff, having added 31,500 jobs over the same period.

The supplement, interestingly, further reports respondents’ thoughts on geographical expansion targets and the impacts of Brexit: “Surveyed during December and January, 91 per cent said Europe was a main market and 74 per cent were targeting the Continent for future expansion. In contrast, 59 per cent have North America as a main market and 27 per cent named Asia. The survey captured responses before and after the UK–EU trade deal was agreed on Christmas Eve. Overall, 60 per cent said Britain’s departure from the European Union had no, or a neutral, impact on their business. For those responding after the deal had been agreed, the figure rose slightly to 63 per cent. In contrast, a third overall said Brexit was bad for business, and this figure fell to 30 per cent for those responding in January. Exporters seeing an overall positive effect from Brexit stood at 7 per cent of the respondents.”

The International Track 200 is sponsored by HSBC and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events company.

You can download the league table, supplement and research report from the Fast Track website.