South Tyneside man's business ranked among the best

Reward Gateway, the world's leading employee engagement platform, has scooped ninth place in the Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100.

Glenn Elliott, a former student at Harton School and South Tyneside Technical College, who founded the firm, said he was delighted with the news.

The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the previous three years.

To be eligible, companies must have sales between £3m and £40m and deliver on average a three year profit growth ranging from 40 per cent to 200 per cent per annum.

Founded in the UK in 2006, Reward Gateway, has grown into a £189 million revenue business, employing 330 people in five countries and servicing over 1,100 enterprise clients, including the likes of IBM, American Express, McDonald’s, Yahoo! and Samsung.

The business’s products power employee communications, rewards and recognition and employee benefits and discounts, all through SmartHub®, Reward Gateway’s uniquely branded, easy to access platform.

Glenn said: "We are delighted to be ranked so highly and positioned alongside companies we have long admired.

"Reward Gateway has grown exponentially from a company I started with a couple of credit cards, to become the world leader in employee engagement technology - our culture and

commitment to open and honest employee communication has played a huge part in our success so far.

"Our mission is simple: to help make the world a happier place to work.”

Last year Glenn, who started work at the Gazette aged just 14, saw the company snapped up by Boston-based technology investor Great Hill Partners.

Glenn, 43, who still has family in the town, credits one man, former teacher Ken Scaife, for giving him a passion for being his own boss when he helped him set up a small business at Harton School.