FT 1000: the seventh annual ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies

A UK-based mobile games maker takes top spot as London maintains its lead as a growth hub.

The latest FT/Statista ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies has been published just as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its second year — but it is the enduring impact of Covid-19 that is evident in this survey.

As it is based on revenue growth at European companies in the three years to 2021, the ranking below shows how many businesses thrived despite the pandemic — or, in many cases, because of it.

As Covid-19 restrictions and global supply chain disruptions lasted into a second year, companies across Europe suffered a double blow of lost sales and rising costs in 2021. In particular, consumer-facing businesses involved in tourism, hospitality, and retail struggled to survive the impact of lockdowns despite government aid programmes.

But, for others — notably in technology and ecommerce — lockdowns were a boon to business, as homebound consumers working and shopping online accelerated digitalisation across sectors. Investors ploughed a record €109bn of venture capital into European companies in 2021, according to deal data provider PitchBook, with more than a third of that concentrated on IT and software as demand for cloud-based tech surged.

This seventh annual FT 1000 ranking, compiled with data provider Statista, identifies those groups that have flourished and expanded, many of them benefiting as corporate and consumer demands shifted with the ebb and flow of the pandemic.