A couple of weeks ago, Gaynor and I went to an awards night at Sir Richard Branson’s Oxfordshire home to celebrate our 7th place ranking in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 League Table.

The awards event kicked off with an afternoon conference where the 320 guests heard from a range of speakers, including previous Fast Track 100 award winners.

Sally Hopson MBE, customer and people director of Pets At Home, explained how focusing on staff development and retention rates had led to a growth in profits to £70m.

James Averdieck, co-founder of Gu Chocolate Puds, described how they had used a trade sale to continue their expansion and take on professional management.

And Nick Wheeler, founder of Charles Tyrwhitt, gave his story of how he had learned from his mistakes, ranging from senior recruitment to attempting to expand into childrenswear.

It was great to be one of Britain’s 100 private companies invited to the event – and an excellent chance to network with the directors of other Fast Track 100 companies.