Small but perfectly profitable
SMALL must be lovely in times of recession when staff overheads can be kept to a minimum. Amazingly, the records suggest that six companies in this year's Top 250 are turning over millions with fewer than 15 employees.
Most of these shortest payrolls are at firms in Tees Valley, four of the six in fact. The other two are in Newcastle.
Methanex UK at 106th on the list has revenues of £63.4m from five people selling methanol chemicals from Billingham.
Endeavour SCH Holdings, a Middlesbrough investment holding company linked to Carillion and James Cook University Hospital there, stands 172nd with £37.4m income from six people.
Hutton Chemicals, the chemical supplier and consultant with Eastern European connections at Guisborough, holds 59th place, bringing in £128m and employing eight.
The highest ranked small employer, the Non-Fossil Purchasing Agency in Newcastle, retains 11 staff and holds 24th place with turnover of £311.6m.
It is an early entrant to the renewable energy sector, involved since 1990 through its administering of generation contracts awarded under the Non-Fossil Fuel Orders.
New entrant AE Europe in Newcastle, at 141, has a turnover of £48.4m from 13 staff hiring cars.
There are 14 employees at Bowesfield Investments, the Stockton property developer pulling in £50.8m to secure 134th place.
It seems if you want to make a pile filling as few pay packets as possible then get dealing in chemicals and renewable energy, property development and investment – oh yes, and car hire.
