Dfyne activewear is UK’s fastest-growing small company

The Sunday Times has published its annual ranking of the 100 privately owned small (less than £250 million in annual sales) firms growing fastest in the UK and an activewear brand tops the list.

Dfyne is in gold medal position this time in a group of firms that have created 10,500 new jobs in the past three years and are planning 5,300 more over the next 12 months.

On average the companies in the top 100 grew revenues by 111% a year for the past three years to a combined £3.4 billion, an increase of £2.8 billion. And they’re all profitable.

These entrepreneurial businesses also include footwear firm Sole Bliss, activewear brand Adanola, clothing brand Montirex, shirt-maker With Nothing Underneath and outdoor clothing label ThruDark.

But focusing on the top 10, number one brand Dfyne was founded by its CEO, 32-year-old Oscar Ryndziewicz. Based in Glasgow, it employs 120 people and saw revenues of £66.8 million this year. It grew its revenues by 517% a year to this May, and is promising more fast growth in the current financial year. 

He said his original funding came from his girlfriend (now his wife) Eilidh, an NHS orthoptist, who “maxed out her credit card to help him get Dfyne off the ground”.

The next most prominent fashion name on the list is Odd Muse at number four, which is up over 268%. Aimee Smale launched it “as a lockdown hobby” while a fashion student in 2020 and four years later it was seeing annual sales of £25 million.

Another fashion brand, Capo, is at number seven, rising 192%. The former Ashton United football players Dan Wilkins and Adam Morning launched it in Accrington in 2017, selling hats. Its clothing now generates sales of £12.5 million.

And D Louise is at number nine, with a rise of over 183%. The jewellery brand founded in 2021 by Olivia Jenkins, Jack Zambakides and Oliver Smithson was created in memory of Jenkins’ mother, Deborah Louise and saw sales of £6.6 million last year.