INTRODUCTION
Sussex’s business landscape in 2025 is defined by resilience, innovation, and a remarkable breadth of achievement, qualities that shine through in this year’s report.
This year, we take a look at Sussex’s 100 largest privately owned companies delivering a combined turnover of £6.2 billion, marking a 14.5% increase from the previous year. The region’s businesses have also grown their total EBITDA to £498 million, with average remuneration rising by over 5% to £40,000 per employee.
These figures are not just numbers; they represent the collective ambition and hard work of nearly 23,000 employees across the county and a business community that continues to outperform expectations.
The Sussex business community is as diverse as it is dynamic. At its heart are two powerhouse sectors: manufacturing, which accounts for 37% of total turnover (£2.3 billion), and the consumer sector, contributing 29% (£1.8 billion).
These sectors are the engines of Sussex’s economy, driving growth, creating jobs, and underpinning the county’s reputation as a centre for excellence and enterprise. Consumer alone employs nearly 9,400 people, while the manufacturing sector supports just over 4,000 jobs, reflecting the scale and impact of these industries on local communities.
Brighton and Crawley stand out as the leading business hubs in Sussex. Brighton leads the way with 15 businesses featured in the top 100, showcasing the city’s vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. Crawley, meanwhile, boasts 14 businesses on the list and claims the highest total turnover of any Sussex town at £822 million, a testament to its status as a commercial powerhouse within the county.
This year’s report also celebrates the top 15 largest international subsidiaries of internationally owned companies by turnover. These businesses collectively generated over £3.7bn in turnover.
Congratulations to every business featured in this year’s report. Your innovation, commitment, and leadership are the driving forces behind Sussex’s continued success and its growing influence on thewider UK economy.
PURPOSE
Now in its second year, Sussex Limited is part of an annual series of business analysis by UK county which seeks to highlight and celebrate some of the county’s most successful, privately owned businesses, and provide them with the recognition they deserve for their contribution to the region and wider UK economy.
New for 2025, this report begins by reviewing the county’s 100 largest privately-owned companies, based upon turnover, providing an insight into the scale of Sussex’s privately-owned and PE-backed business community. As covered in the last report, in analysing the financial performance of the region, we have also looked at two core metrics over three years:
• growth in turnover; and
• average EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation) margin.
Grant Thornton chose to look at these two metrics as they provide an indication of scale of the businesses in the region as well as the contribution to the economy. The report highlights the top 25 within each category, providing a yardstick against which the county can assess its economic performance and businesses can benchmark themselves against their peers.
Finally, we look at Sussex’s largest international businesses who are significant contributors to the local economy.
Methodology
Sussex Limited 2025 is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts (as of July 8th 2025) of Sussex’s private businesses. The report excludes companies that are listed, owned by listed businesses, schools, trusts, charities, and businesses that are subsidiaries of overseas companies.
The data has also been with prior year results to provide an insight into economic trends across sectors. Inevitably, there is an unavoidable time delay between the availability of data utilised and the ultimate presentation of this report, alongside differing year-ends to consider.
https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/sussex-ltd.-2025--who-made-the-list/
