Five travel firms have made it on to The Sunday Times Top Track 250 league table, which ranks Britain’s “mid-market growth private companies with the biggest sales”.
The newspaper, which partners with accounting network Grant Thornton on the table, said a typical Top Track 250 company has sales between £140 million and £650 million, between 100 and 5,000 staff, and tends to be owned and run by families and entrepreneurs.
Hotelier Travelodge was the highest ranking travel firm at number 25 on the league, while Southall Travel was the highest ranking travel agency and tour operator at number 48 on the list.
During the past financial year, Southall’s turnover has grown by £65 million to £420 million, and the firm has risen up the leaderboard in the past two years, having been ranked 87th in 2013.
Kuljinder Bahia, managing director of Southall Travel, said: “I’m extremely proud of this great accolade, six years after our very first entry. All areas of the business have performed well and I am thankful for our strong relationships with our suppliers and to our loyal customers, many of whom book with us time and time again.”
Lotus Group, which owns businesses such as DialAFlight and SupertravelSki, ranked 71st on the list.
Hays Travel ranked at number 105 on the table, achieving sales of £253m and £3m profit.
JacTravel also made the league table at number 204.
The combined sales of the 250 companies in the league table was equivalent to 4% of the UK’s GDP.