7 August 2025

The Fastest-Growing Companies in Scotland | 2025

The Fastest-Growing Companies in Scotland | 2025 Table of contents Earlier this year, we looked at England’s fastest-growing companies — the first part of our

Words Lily Ruaah

Earlier this year, we looked at England’s fastest-growing companies — the first part of our deep-dives into the nations of the UK.

This series helps you uncover the key insights and trends behind both market leaders and hidden gems in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For example, you’ll discover which companies are the biggest employers in each nation’s high-growth ecosystem, how businesses are achieving this, and which industries are seeing the biggest growth.

The second in this series of articles takes us to Scotland, home to the unicorn SkyScanner, a burgeoning offshore wind industry, and Tunnock’s tea cakes.

Discover Scotland’s business landscape

Before exploring the companies that made the list, let’s take a closer look at Scotland’s business landscape as a whole.

In Scotland, there are currently 279k active companies. Out of those active companies, 55.7k are headquartered in the City of Edinburgh – that’s around 20% of all active companies.

Industries and sectors

When we dive into industries we can see some overlap with England. The highest percentage of active companies in Scotland is restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways, at 6.4%. This industry also hit England’s number three spot.

In second place is property development and construction (6.3%), which was England’s overall top spot for active companies. Tradespeople and trade services is in third place with 5.8%.

Application software was in second place in England and still made it onto Scotland’s industry list at number four, with 4.3% of active companies in this industry.

Gender balance of founders

Overall 60% of active Scottish companies are founded by an all-male team, and 15.5% were founded by an all-female team. 17.4% had an equal split in genders in the founding team.

This mirrors the numbers from the UK as a whole where 61.9% of all active companies are founded by an all-male team, and 16.7% are founded by an all-female team.

Foundations and cessations

We also looked at Scottish company incorporations and cessations.

From 2021 to 2023, annual company incorporations steadily grew from 35k to 41k, though the dip from 2023 to 2024 was small, at just 729 fewer foundations. And we’re well on our way to similarly high figures 2025. So far in 2025, there’s been 24.4k foundations and 17.9k cessations, compared to 40k company foundations and 31.1k cessations in 2024.

2024 also had a record-high number of cessations, slightly higher than 2023’s number at 30.8k.

The Fastest-Growing Companies in England | 2025

Explore the fastest-growing companies in England. Discover insights behind the high-growth economy in England.

Read our blog

Equity investment in Scotland

When looking at equity investment, Scotland secures the second spot out of the UK’s four nations after England. In Q1 2025, Scottish companies secured 7% of all deals made, and 5% of the amount raised. This is a 108% increase in the amount raised from Q4 2024 when Scottish companies made up just 2%.

So far in 2025, Scottish companies have received £324m in equity funding, spanning 185 deals.

Discover more on the UK’s equity funding ecosystem in our quarterly report, The State of UK Investment: Q1 2025. And coming soon, our update on the UK’s equity funding landscape for the first half of 2025 — sign up to the newsletter to be the first to get access.

Ranking methodology

To make our list of Scotland’s high-growth companies, we’ve used data from the Beauhurst platform, which was used in conjunction with research from the Sunday Times to create the Sunday Times Hundred. This ranking, published in the Sunday Times on 29th June, ranks the UK’s fastest growing companies by sales growth over a three year period.

Three Scottish companies made the list in 2025 — read on to find out who they are.

What is The Sunday Times Hundred?

The Sunday Times Hundred is a ranking of the UK’s 100 fastest-growing companies.

This high-growth list is compiled using a combination of our data and independent research from the team at The Sunday Times. It highlights exceptional UK companies that meet strict criteria:

£5m+ turnover
Independent, privately-owned and UK headquartered companies
Have four years of accounts, with sales growth measured by CAGR (compound annual growth rate) over the latest three financial years

To create this article, we have used the same dataset. This means every company on this list has also featured on The Sunday Times Hundred 2025.

Read The Sunday Times Hundred ranking

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Scotland’s fastest-growing companies by sales growth

Maki & Ramen is a Japanese restaurant chain founded in 2015 by chef Teddy Lee, who trained at a sushi academy in Tokyo. From its beginnings, the brand has focused on delivering what it describes as “the true taste of traditional Japanese food”.

Since opening its first restaurant in Edinburgh, Maki & Ramen has expanded into cities including Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, and Leicester, and now has ten sites.

This restaurant company reached number 79 on The Sunday Times Hundred 2025.

Green Home Systems is a green energy company established in 2014, specialising in retrofitting homes to make them warmer, more sustainable, and more affordable to heat. The company is focused on supporting the UK’s transition to net zero, often working in partnership with local authorities, housing associations, and government-backed funding schemes.

Green Home Systems has been through one funding round in 2020, and as well as featuring on the 39th spot on The Sunday Times Hundred, it was also on the Scotland Fast Growth 50 in 2024.

Taking the number one spot overall on the 2025 Sunday Times Hundred, making it the fastest growing company in the whole of the UK, DYFNE is a women’s activewear brand founded in 2021, with a focus on creating gymwear that combines comfort and functionality.

DFYNE has grown a strong community through social media. The brand continues to grow with input from its customers, aiming to provide clothing that works just as well for exercise as it does for day-to-day wear.

In June 2025, the company moved its headquarters from Glasgow to Manchester.

Access live data on the UK and beyond

If you’re looking to track the most promising fast-growing companies in Scotland, across the UK, or in key European markets like Germany, Beauhurst can help. Our platform provides real-time data on ambitious businesses, giving you early visibility into the companies shaping tomorrow’s economy.

Whether you’re identifying investment opportunities, analysing market trends, or streamlining your research, Beauhurst enables you to make informed decisions faster. With powerful search tools, live company updates, and comprehensive coverage of the UK’s private company ecosystem — plus expanding insights into Germany’s innovation landscape — you’ll never miss opportunities that others would.

To explore our data and discuss subscription options, get in touch. Or take a virtual tour of the platform.

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