Newcastle’s Performance Horizon named top tech firm in the North and Scotland

Eleven North East businesses have been named in a list of the 100 fastest growing tech companies in the North.

Newcastle’s Hedgehog Lab was revealed as the fastest growing tech firm in the North East, placing ninth overall in the list compiled by tech investment firm GP Bullhound.

Car battery manufacturer Hyperdrive Innovation were also found to be one of the fastest growing businesses in the North along with digital marketing firm Redu Group.

Virtual reality specialist ZeroLight also scored highly coming in at 24th on the list. The company has won a number of major contracts to use its VR tech to promote and sell cars.

Newcastle firms Performance Horizon and Opencast Software were also named on the list as were Bede Gaming, Aspire Technology Solutions, Waterstons, Visualsoft, and research company Everything Different.

Hugh Campbell, managing partner of GP Bullhound, said: “We have seen the Northern region’s technology sector grow extensively as local businesses are scaling to reach the global market.

“Companies such as Peak AI and Sykes are a testament to the potential of Northern businesses to become international tech giants – we expect to see many more local companies with great ideas grow to reach the global technology landscape.”

In total, tech companies across the North of England and Scotland generated £4.5bn during 2017. The figure is more than double the £1.9bn generated in 2016.

The list of the fastest growing tech companies was revealed at the 2018 Northern Tech Awards in Edinburgh.

Performance Horizon was the only company from the region to win an award at the event, after scooping the Overall Judges’ Award at the end of the night.

The firm specialises in providing its clients with online marketing technology. It supports brands in building partnerships and improving their growth using its data and artificial intelligence.

After launching in Newcastle in 2010 the firm has now grown internationally and now operates across four different continents.

Other companies that scooped awards during the event included BigChange, which won the Region’s Top Northern Star award, and In Touch Networks, which was named as the Fastest Growing Company with revenues under £10m. Evolution Funding was given the prize for the Fastest Growing Company with revenues over £10m.

Outside of the tech sector, Northumberland engineering firm Osbit Ltd also took home a prize at the 32nd SPE Aberdeen Offshore Achievement Awards.

The company scooped the Health and Safety and Environmental Innovation Award for its work designing and manufacturing three intervention tension frames for Helix Well Ops. The frames stand 20m tall and weigh around 100 tonnes.

Osbit managing director Brendon Hayward said: “This award is testament to the commitment and dedication of our skilled engineers to deliver solutions that are not only effective and improve operational efficiency, but also are inherently safe.

“It is essential that we can instil confidence in our customers, such as Helix Well Ops, to demonstrate that safety is at the heart of what we do and how we deliver innovative solutions professionally, and with care. Winning this award is a further endorsement of that commitment.”