There is
nothing quite like a league table to focus minds. I know this through my
intimacy with university league tables, noting Shropshire’s recent success on
this front as Harper Adams University ascended to the lofty heights of No.1
‘Modern University of the Year’, and the top 50 overall, in The Times and Sunday Times Good University
Guide; whilst also being the second fastest riser in the Complete University Guide. Once we –
people, companies, universities, football teams – are ranked alongside each other,
it invokes our inherent competitiveness, one of the key drivers of
productivity.
Which is why –
as the self-declared Bad Boy of
Benchmarking – I could not pass over the SME Export Track 100, published by The Times in February 2017, without getting the competitive juices
flowing. This particular league table ranks the top 100 UK SMEs by their rate
of export growth over a two-year period.
PROBLEM
The interactive map below pinpoints each of the companies in the top 100, showing that there was not one Shropshire company in the rankings. There were nine Midlands companies, including two from the Black Country – one of which, Stiltz Lifts in Kingswinford, came 7th overall – and one from Staffordshire. Six of the top 100 are from the West Midlands which, given that the region contributes 7.3% of national Gross Value-Added (GVA), is not too bad. London is, of course, a hotspot, along with a ring around the M25 that encompasses the wider South East. Also the North West, around Manchester; Yorkshire, close to Sheffield and Leeds; Glasgow; and a half circle around the south of Birmingham.
