Flame features in the 2019 Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranking private companies by sales growth.

Ranked 76th in the table, the independent plumbing and heating merchant recorded average sales growth of 50% over the past three years, hitting £20.1m in June.

The full league table will be published on 1 December with the business section of The Sunday Times. It is Flame’s first appearance in the prestigious business league table, which is compiled by Fast Track, an Oxford-based research and networking events firm.

This year’s Fast Track 100 achieved, on average, sales growth of 78% a year over three years to a total of £3 billion. Together they employ 16,818 staff, having more than tripled their combined workforce over the period.

John Savage, Founder and Managing Director of the company (pictured), said: “This is an amazing accolade and is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone connected with Flame Heating Group.

“We started out in 2011 with one branch in Team Valley and have since expanded to operate eight trade counters across the North East, one in the North West and three in Scotland.

“Flame has also opened four bathroom showrooms to both trade customers and the general public, as well as launching our own Azure bathroom range.

“Our success is based on innovation, ambition and customer service and we plan to build upon this achievement by opening further branches in the coming months and years.

“We are now a member of a prestigious club, as this league table is highly regarded in the business world. Our 70 staff can be very proud as they have all made a very valuable contribution.”

In October, Flame’s innovative approach was praised by the chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Mike Cherry, during a visit to its head office. The firm was named Scale-Up Business of the Year by the FSB at its national Celebrating Small Business Awards earlier this year.