Victoria Real and the SAS Business Group have been named as two of fastest growing unquoted technology businesses in the UK.

They are the only Sussex companies to feature in the prestigious Sunday Times ARM Tech Track 100 league table, which ranks companies based on compound annual sales growth between 1998 and 2000.

Victoria Real was ranked eighth and the SAS Business Group 83rd.

Founded in 1990 as a television production company, Victoria Real specialises in cross-platform production and development, including web, digital television and wireless, for blue-chip companies.

The Brighton-based company was heavily involved in the award-winning Big Brother production.

Current customers include Pizza Hut, UEFA, Channel 4 and the BBC. Sales grew by 207 per cent between 1998 and 2000.

Creative director Jason George, who recently received the People's Choice award for the greatest contribution to the industry by New Media Age magazine, was pleased by his company's ranking.

He said: "We are delighted to be in the ARM 100. More importantly, we are increasingly being recognised for the quality of our creative and technical solutions and, as a result, this year has seen a raft of new business."

The SAS Business Group was founded in 1989 by Stephen and Ian Stanway and Alex Scott with a £10,000 loan.

The group's business has been driven by the boom in virtual private networks (VPNs), which enable companies to send data securely to different locations around the world.

The group of companies, whose customers include Coca Cola, The Body Shop and BT, manages communications projects nationally and internationally and provides consultancy, messaging, internet access, intranets, storage systems and general network security.

Based in Colgate, near Horsham, the group's early entry into internet and telecommunications has paid off, with sales growing 54 per cent a year, from £1 million in 1998 to £2.5 million last year.

Chief executive Stephen Stanway said: "We've been in business for more than ten years and grown rapidly in that time."

SAS's appearance in the league table coincides with the unveiling of a new corporate identity, including the launch of a new web site.

Mr Stanway said: "More than ten years' success in a rapidly-changing environment is worth shouting about.

"Developing the new branding reflects the maturity of the business and the breadth of our experience and expertise."

This is the second major award SAS has achieved this year. It also received the BT Customer Excellence Award.

Robert Saxby, executive chairman of ARM, said: "The group is designing our future and all the companies are a credit to our entrepreneurial spirit vital for job creation in any society."

GoJobsite, the online recruitment website founded in Chichester, which moved head offices to Havant, Hampshire, last Christmas, also featured in the Sunday Times table.

The site, which employs 120 people in the region, achieved 11th place in the table.

www.victoriareal.com
www.sas.co.uk
www.techtrack100.co.uk
www.gojobsite.co.uk