26. Gate One

Founders: Tim Phillips, Simon Dennis, David Holliday and Alex McEvoy
Founded: June 2013
Website: www.gateone.co.uk

Take four entrepreneurial businessmen from the ‘big 4’ consultancy firms, add a goal to offer a different approach with “excellent client service”, and combine this with “attractive” price points and you’ll get Gate One’s recipe for start-up success.

Launched in June 2013, Gate One is a London-based management consultancy which looks to offer an innovative service to clients. Its founders created the business on the basis that they would use their expertise to offer a “better way” which includes providing highly experienced consultants to operate “shoulder to shoulder” with clients to tackle transitional challenges.

This “combination of innovation and expertise” has enabled the company to scale to multimillion revenues and 100% growth in 2015 – and attract an impressive client base which includes major household names.

The company also has big plans for the future; the coming year will see it recruit new team members and add at least three more blue-chip clients. It also wants to give something back to the start-up community and has already launched a business incubator which provides seed funding for start-ups in return for equity. A lifestyle and food business is off the starting block already. An “entrepreneurial consultancy” indeed…