Northern Ireland companies listed in Top 50

Two Northern Irish companies - McErlain's Bakery and McColgan's - have been listed in the Top 50 Fast Growth companies produced from The Grocer magazine in the United Kingdom, the food and drink industry's leading publication .

The survey, carried out for The Grocer by Catalyst Corporate Finance in Britain, lists McErlain's at number seven and McColgan's at 32 in the table of the fastest growing food and drink companies which are privately owned McErlain's achieved compound growth of 40.8 per cent over the past two years and McColgan's 23.3 per cent.

Top 50 listings were based on calculations of compound growth in sales revenue over this period.

Both McErlain's and McColgan's are family-owned and have achieved significant organic growth through increasing sales outside Northern Ireland through investment in new products and customer support.

McErlain's, based at Magherafelt in County Derry, is better known through its Genesis Crafty brand which emphasises the handcrafted quality of its morning goods such as scones and pancakes and traditional artisan Irish potato, soda and wheaten breads as well as cakes. The business is owned and run by six brothers, all trained bakers and trades throughout the UK and Ireland. The company is a major supplier to Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco and as won a series of UK Great Taste awards.

McColgan's is a leading Irish producer of meat based convenience meals such as pies and quiches. The company has sales in Britain and Ireland and is based in Strabane, County Tyrone.