News
Local Roots, Global Reach
8 Oct 2025
Retaining close links with their home regions and basing their companies in smaller towns and cities around the UK doesn’t stop these innovative leaders making a mark on the world stage.
In the business world, London has traditionally been the UK’s epicentre of commerce, creativity and trade – and its gravity continues to draw in ambitious entrepreneurs from far and wide.
But plenty more are finding commercial success beyond the capital. In fact, The LDC Top 50 hail from 67 different towns and cities across the country.
Some are going global, putting their corners of the UK, whether it’s a small Scottish town or Yorkshire village, on the export map. Others are focusing on their home market, bringing jobs and capital to the local area and maximising impact on home turf.
Packing a punch on the world stage is Scottish connectivity company Clarus Networks, based in Bathgate, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Founders Derek and Debra Phillips have forged a business that has gone on to become one of the top-performing resellers globally of Elon Musk’s Starlink, with more than 3,000 deployments across nearly 40 countries.
“When Starlink opened up its reseller programme we went all in and bought 1,000 terminals,” says Debra. The couple had to move operations from Livingston, where their equipment used to fit into a cupboard, to a warehouse and office in nearby Bathgate. “They have 100 resellers and we’re number eight,” says Derek. “It has transformed our business – we have 74 staff now.”
Elsewhere, Lee Brooks is helping to put South Kirkby in West Yorkshire on the map. The founder of Production Park has built a studio where rock stars and pop acts can practise and perfect their stage shows. “If you go anywhere in the music management supply chain, including the US, South Kirkby is known as a place you can send your band to get ready to tour Europe,” he says.
The fact that Brooks’s dad once had a factory in South Kirkby was not the only attraction for the entrepreneur. “We’re in between Sheffield and Leeds, where there’s a lot of precision manufacturing,” Brooks explains. “It can be tougher to build businesses up north than in London but the maker and creator culture here, combined with the space, means it has been really good for us.”
He has connected with the University of Greater Manchester to train the next generation of talent through the Academy of Live Technology.
We want this place to be recognised for live events and entertainment technology in the same way Bauhaus and Black Mountain College are for art and architecture.”
Giving Back to the Community
Access to talent is also a reason Mike Brennan, founder of Outdo, based his business in Halifax. He’s building an outdoor advertising offering that he wants to be the largest outside of London. “It’s so positive being based there: it’s cheaper to recruit, as people don’t pay Leeds and Manchester rents, but also there’s something about the northern spirit,” he says. “We have 20 marketeers in Halifax and it’s great to see them develop.”
Community is important to Brennan. Outdo’s employees have shares in the company through an employee benefit trust, and the average age of the sales team is over 40. “We’re a different type of media company,” he says.
A lot of the revenue we generate goes back to councils, helping them invest in public services. During Covid, we let the NHS use our office space as bedrooms for staff.”
Putting Fundamentals First
Meanwhile the founders of Evaro, Dr Thuria Wenbar and Dr Oskar Wenbar may be from Iraq and Poland respectively, but they’re leading a quiet revolution from Norwich.
Their online pharmacy service is at the forefront in transforming the way we access healthcare – starting with the NHS. The founders’ approach is “human first”, focused on building “the version of healthcare that we need” — not just selling drugs or maximising profit.
Half of Evaro’s 240-strong team work from its new premises in Norfolk, from box packers to dispensers, pharmacists and customer service teams. The other half are remote.
The team is determined to get this right – knowing that there is a lot at stake and a big impact to be made. “It is actually about building a better healthcare system that helps people,” says Thuria. “We are making sure the fundamental building blocks are in place. In start-up land, you can build the wings while the rocket ship’s going – but we are in healthcare. There’s a difference.”
Feeling inspired? Register your interest or put forward a CEO or Founder you know for The LDC Top 50 2026.