It was another seismic year for the business world in the West Midlands in 2023, with Birmingham City Council mired in financial woes while the HS2 rail project was thrown into chaos when the northern leg was scrapped. But 2024 should offer plenty to look forward to including new railway stations and the Euro 2024 football tournament hopefully giving the pub industry a bumper boost.
Birmingham and the wider West Midlands will continue to be a hotbed of innovation and business excellence so we have again canvassed the opinions of experts from across the region as to who are the Ones to Watch in 2024.
And if you want to check our previous Ones to Watch, you can see stories here from 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Boxraw
I'm sure this is going to be another memorable year for Boxraw in Coventry. This growing business produces sportswear and equipment for boxing and has developed the world's most comprehensive machine learning model for training, based on the largest data set of boxers ever captured.
Boxraw already sells to 120 countries which has led to its overseas sales growing by 335 per cent over the last three years which is extremely impressive. The business has secured the Queen's Award for International Trade and founder and chief executive Ben Amanna became a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 cohort for 2021.
Ben says he has nothing else in mind other than "keeping the momentum going" and I have no doubt that will happen because he has laid the correct foundations for success.
Craig Humphrey, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub
Covatic
One company we will be watching in 2024 is Covatic - an innovative, private-by-design ad-tech company that is already doing some amazing work. What makes the future of Covatic so exciting is it always seems to be one step ahead of the game while being able to maintain one foot in the now.
As the topics of AI and online safety roll over into 2024, the team remains at the forefront of discussions both nationally and internationally, all while identifying emerging topics that have the potential to impact the wider industry over the coming year.
2024 is looking bright for Covatic and I, for one, cannot wait to see what this Birmingham-based company has in store both regionally and globally.
Yiannis Maos, founder and chief executive of TechWM
Goldilock
The West Midlands welcomed a surge of tech-focused foreign direct investment projects during 2023, one of which was Canadian-owned Goldilock. As a pioneer of cyber security technology, Wolverhampton-based Goldilock is redefining how sensitive data, devices and networks can be secured.
Its patented remote security technology allows asset owners to remotely and instantly physically connect and disconnect assets to and from the internet, without using the requirement of the internet to do so.
Last year, the company received £1.3 million in investment and was selected among 44 startups and SMEs out of over 1,300 applicants to the NATO DIANA dual-use acceleration program.
Goldilock is committed to creating an additional 50 cyber security jobs here so we are excited about what 2024 might bring.
Neil Rami, chief executive of West Midlands Growth Company
Iethico
Iethico is a start-up technology platform that is powered by AI and aims to alleviate shortages by radically shifting the way medicines are accessed by pharmacists on behalf of their patients. This effectively solves many of the current logistics and supply issues experienced by the UK healthcare system.
The problem is stark as critical shortages of prescription stimulants for ADHD, weight loss drugs like Saxenda, cholesterol drugs like Atorvastatin and hormone patches for treating menopause are impacting the lives of millions.
Having received £450,000 in funding and relocated to Binley Business Innovation Centre in Coventry in 2022, Iethico's medicine sourcing solution is already award winning. The company is seeking its next round of funding which should enable it to achieve lift off in 2024.
Mark Tock, chief operating officer at University of Warwick Science Park
Keon Homes
2023 was a transformative year for Keon Homes, one of the Midlands' emerging forces in delivering affordable housing and extra care schemes.
Thanks to a commitment to building strategic partnerships and unlocking complex land agreements, the Burntwood-based company has now completed 14 sites, over 400 plots and has seen turnover race to £40 million. Keon Homes has also stamped its mark on the extra care market, with over £43 million of schemes in development.
Importantly, all of this has been achieved by doing the right thing, creating 12 new jobs directly and more in the local supply chain. We look forward to the company meeting its £55 million turnover target in 2024 while expanding its footprint across the Midlands.
John Jones, director at BM3
Maeving
Maeving is proud to be the UK's first electric motorcycle manufacturer. The company realised there was a gap in the market for an entirely new type of urban vehicle which could also radically transform our cities and reduce the effects of climate change.
It is fantastic that, rather than outsourcing the manufacturing, every single motorbike is hand assembled at Maeving's HQ in Coventry and roughly 65 per cent of parts are sourced from the UK - more than any other motorcycle manufacturer.
Maeving's motorbikes are the creation of an in-house team of highly skilled British engineers who have more than 50 years of experience and are responsible for some of Britain's greatest motorcycles. I believe they will go from strength to strength in 2024 as we all play our part in meeting the Government's Net Zero targets.
Nic Erskine, executive director of Coventry and Warwickshire Champions
Medmin
As tech commissioner, I get to see the true strength of the regional tech scene and Medmin's Get Well Soon brand is certainly one to watch. Launching here in 2024, it is set to make a huge impact on the health tech sector.
Keith Duddy, the co-founder and chief executive of Birmingham-based Medmin, created Get Well Soon as a means of truly democratising private healthcare. Thanks to an intuitive and feature-rich website, users will be able to directly compare pricing on private healthcare treatments.
It's a milestone in putting transparency at the heart of private healthcare and promises to be a powerful force for alleviating strain on the NHS by making it a more straightforward process.
The business has already received backing as the first investment from the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund.
Martin Ward, tech commissioner with the West Midlands Combined Authority
Smoke + Ash
Smoke + Ash is an independent restaurant that launched in November 2022 in Birmingham's growing Edgbaston Village. It is a first venture into running a hospitality business for owners Paul and Clare Collins who serve up Neapolitan-style pizzas alongside quality wines and seasonal twists on classic cocktails.
In its first year, the restaurant produced 25,000 pizzas and 5,000 cocktails and was a winner of the ‘Flavours of Birmingham' competition. It recently held its first street food event at the Independent Birmingham festival as well as one-off collaborations with other local pizzerias.
In 2024, the restaurant is expanding its range of services into private event catering and masterclasses. These ambitious business owners have plenty planned for the years ahead and fly the flag for Birmingham's brilliant hospitality scene.
Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
The Binding Site
Originally set up by University of Birmingham researchers over 30 years ago, The Binding Site is something of a hidden gem.
Still based in Birmingham and with more than 1,200 employees globally, the firm provides specialist diagnostic products to clinicians and laboratories worldwide. Revenues have grown strongly, topping £190 million by 2022.
It was acquired by Massachusetts-based Thermo-Fisher for £2.3 billion in 2022, with the hope that this will help The Binding Site expand its product offering even further.
David Bailey, professor and senior fellow at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham
