Top 100: Market forces prune Gloucestershire’s green giant

One of Gloucestershire’s biggest group of businesses, in the top 10 by turnover, has just got markedly smaller - while its leader is fast becoming the most high-profile industrialist in the UK.

Dear reader,

I hope your week has gone well so far.

Welcome to our Thursday story ahead of Friday’s full edition. Those of you who follow Raikes will know our Monday’s publications are full editions, complete with news briefing notes, a picture story, focus on a county charity and then our big read lead story.

Thursday has morphed into a lead in its own right, usually long-form like most of our leads, and will arrive sometimes paywalled as we seek to make sustainable what we do - provide an independent, Gloucestershire-focused, journalistically and editorially-led digital magazine.

Today it’s a story about a business group that is one of the biggest operations by turnover in the county, and whose founder is fast-becoming the most high profile and maybe one of the most influential business leaders of the current era. Certainly the most high profile.

We don’t reveal too much about who it is just yet, or which business it is, because we want you to read the story. But some of you will have already guessed who it is.

Fridays sees another full edition sent out, and that will be the case tomorrow. And while you will be able to read the bulk of what is featured on that day’s editions it is more than likley a paywall will fall across part of its main long-form lead too (but not always). A paywall also falls across almost all of our copy after two weeks.

We have paying members who support us to think of - and it is them, our Founding Members, especially our Founding Partners and the others who hire our services to cover stories who enable to to do what we do - provide original journalism for the county. We think of that as our USP, but most of all - we hope you like it.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

If you have a story, an issue, a news item, a charity or an interview you want us to write about or investigate, challenge the powers that be on, then please email me: andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

NB: We believe Raikes now publishes probably the best-read business-related email ‘newsletter’, pound for pound, in Gloucestershire. Readership is growing and 2025 looks good!

---

* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you subscribe and invite friends to The Raike Journal you will earn rewards towards complimentary membership (three referrals will get you one month, 10 will get you three months and 25 will win you six months).

If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls often put on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable to deliver more original articles on our county.

You can sign up to receive your two extra editions a week and see past all our paywalls for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

---

Market forces prune Gloucestershire’s green giant

One of Gloucestershire’s very biggest group of businesses, in the top 10 by turnover alone, has just got markedly smaller – but no less exciting, and its leader no less determined to change the world.

By Andrew Merrell.

One of Gloucestershire’s top 10 biggest businesses by turnover saw its bottom line fall away significantly last year and profits disappear as it recorded a loss of several million pounds.

It’s a business group that declares its mission statement is ‘to fight climate change’ and to promote sustainability in all walks of life, with the vision of making a Green Britain and reducing the use of fossil fuels.

if you know the county well, you’ll probably have guessed who it is by now.

But it is also a group that last year saw its gross profits fall from £144.1 million to £95 million for the year ending 30 April 2024, with net profits plummeting from £38.3 million to a £7.8 million loss.

Despite all that, and climbing to an estimated top 4 in our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, sponsored by Randall & Payne (which follows the financial fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover) its turnover is such that it remains in the top 10.

And it remains no less ambitious.