ALL small businesses hope to grow into big ones.

The Growth category in the Echo-backed South Coast Business awards highlights the achievements of some of the area’s fastest growing companies.

This year the category is sponsored by accountants Smith and Williamson who should know whether the figures add up.

The judges are looking for businesses show sustainable and consistent growth, successfully scaling up against a backdrop of continuing economic difficulties.

Entrants must have demonstrated an increase in sales, headcount, profitability, market share or geographical expansion over the last three years.

The four to make the shortlist are:

SB Joinery (UK) Ltd

SB Joinery (UK) Ltd is a fast growing, bespoke joinery manufacturer in Stockbridge, Hampshire.

This has been achieved through a focus on investing in people and technology, as well as providing their clients with beautiful joinery products.

The story began in 1989, when current director Stephen Brown started the business from nothing other than a bag of tools and a shed.

From humble beginnings, to now employing over 90 staff and sales turnover of over £8.5m in multiple locations.

In the past year, SB Joinery’s growth has been exceptional showing their strategy is clearly providing the marketplace real value.

sbjdanebury.com.

Koh Thai Restaurants

The Koh Group was born out of a frustration with the ordinary.

It became an opportunity to make the far-flung tastes of Thai food accessible, combined with a European tapas-style of dining and the complete dining experience that Koh prides itself on.

Little did we know that our island escape in the heart of Boscombe would grow to become an archipelago, supported by an incredibly hard-working team – our Koh Family.

Koh now has 13 sites (and growing) and four concepts including our tiny island playgrounds, the Koh Nois, our cocktail and hot-desking hub, Koh Lounge and our KohOnTheMove events arm.

Formaplex

Formaplex is dynamic manufacturing group specialising in the manufacture of tooling and lightweight component solutions.

Fully integrated services include support and advice, tooling design and manufacture, project management, measurement, jig manufacture and end of arm tooling.

Injection moulded plastic components are manufactured to the highest standards; ISO9001, TS16949 and VW Formel Q certification, to meet rapid delivery schedules. Components are supplied as individual items or complete assemblies.

As market leaders within the automotive industry, we operate from ‘state of the art’ production facilities (270,000 sq ft) our extensive plant list includes 44 CNC milling machines and 16 injection mould presses.

Utilita Energy

Utilita is the UK’s fastest-growing independent energy supplier and has been at the forefront of the smart meter rollout since its formation in 2003. It was the first supplier to challenge the Big Six in the domestic energy market and now has more than 500,000 customers. Utilita strives to offer a fairer deal to lower income and energy-conscious households and aims to always be cheaper than the Big Six.

Utilita has its head office in Eastleigh and has more than 1,000 staff working in 11 locations across the country. As part of its expansion, the company has launched a Commercial Energy arm serving SMEs.