Young Guns Class of 2016 revealed…

The most outstanding entrepreneurs aged 35 or under behind Britain’s fastest growing firms have been recognised  in Growing Business’ Young Guns ‘Class of 2016’ index.

The 2016 class is made up of 50 entrepreneurs behind 30 of the UK’s most promising businesses which have achieved revenues of at least £1m and/or raised over £1m in funding.

Making a difference by investing heavily in talent, innovation and infrastructure, the 30 businesses have helped to create some 1,384 jobs and have each generated average turnover of approximately £4m – over £1.6m more than the average turnover of businesses in the Young Guns Class of 2015.

The average age of qualifying founders in the index is 29.8 years-old – with the youngest entrepreneur aged just 22.

Click here to view the Young Guns Class of 2016.

Sponsored by chartered accountants haysmacintyre and commercial property advisors DeVono Cresa, the Young Guns awards champions the best and brightest young entrepreneurs that Britain has to offer with only 30 companies selected each year, and no repeat appearances.

Now in its 14th year, the Young Guns index is renowned for identifying emerging business success stories and has previously recognised fledgling companies started by the likes of Will Shu of Deliveroo, Holly Tucker MBE of Notonthehightstreet.com, Michael Acton Smith OBE of Mind Candy, Tom Valentine of Secret Escapes, and the co-founders of Kano, Appear Here, PROPERCORN and graze– to name just a few.

Celebrated at an awards luncheon held at the prestigious Kensington Roof Gardens, the Class of 2016 join an alumni which contains the founders of more than 400 businesses named since the Young Guns awards began in 2003.

Young Guns also has two seperate accolades – the haysmacintyre Top Gun; a title bestowed upon the Young Gun 2016 business which judges feel stands out the most, and Golden Gun; a title which recognises the exceptional achievements of one Young Gun alumni member.

The haysmacintyre Top Gun title was awarded to Olivia Burton founders Jemma Fennings and Lesa Bennett, while Dr Ben Medlock MBE and Jon Reynolds MBE of SwiftKey were crowned the Golden Gun title.

Additionally, the Young Guns judges named a further five companies that they hope will form the basis of our Class of 2017 – the Young Guns Five to Watch – which you can view here.

Ian Wallis, editorial director of Growing Business and Startups.co.uk, commented:

“The Young Guns Class of 2016 demonstrates the true extent of the young talent that Britain has to offer, featuring some of the most passionate, disruptive and transformative minds we’ve seen in the 14 years of these awards.

“While the recent Brexit result has brought about an element of uncertainty and caused some companies to put the brakes on, our Young Guns have bolstered the economy by creating close to 1,400 jobs – if that doesn’t give us all hope for the future of business then I don’t know what will!”

Ready to be inspired? Follow the buttons to view the Young Guns Class of 2016…

Image ©Peter Searle.