Ward Hadaway Fastest 50 Awards 2026: How Yorkshire’s fastest growing businesses are using innovation and AI
Innovation is playing a more defined role in how many of Yorkshire’s fastest growing businesses are planning and delivering growth.
For some, that means investment in new products or services; for others, it is about improving how the business runs. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) is part of that mix, but not the starting point.
Laura Hill, Partner at Ward Hadaway, has been speaking to companies featured in this year’s Ward Hadaway Fastest 50 Awards, in partnership with The Yorkshire Post, to understand how innovation is being applied and where it is having the greatest effect.
“For most businesses, innovation is not a separate strategy,” she says. “It sits within how they grow, how they operate and how they respond to changes in their market. AI is increasingly part of that, but it is not the whole picture.”
Across the Fastest 50, innovation is closely linked to measurable outcomes. At Simon Bailes Peugeot, a franchised Peugeot dealership group based in North Yorkshire, Managing Director Simon Bailes points to the move towards electric and hybrid vehicles as a key factor behind a 54% increase in turnover to £103.6m, alongside a 22% rise in aftersales profitability.
At Sport:80, a Sheffield-based technology provider working with national governing bodies of sport, innovation is focused on improving how organisations operate. Chief Operating Officer Jonny Turner says recent developments have centred on refining user journeys, making it easier for people to engage with sport while helping organisations scale participation and retention.
Elsewhere, Outdo, a Leeds-based outdoor media owner, has taken a different approach. CEO Mike Brennan says the business has focused on strengthening traditional outdoor formats rather than following the wider move towards digitisation, positioning them as a trusted option in a changing market.
“What comes through clearly is that innovation is fundamental to achieving long term results,” says Laura. “It is about continually striving to improve performance, whether that is through driving revenue, maximising efficiency or improving the customer experience.”
Using AI and managing risk
As part of that broader focus on innovation, AI is becoming one of the tools businesses are using to improve day-to-day operations.
Sport:80 has introduced AI through its ‘Sport:80 Intelligence’ suite, with tools designed to support compliance processes, improve accessibility and strengthen data-led decision-making. Turner says the focus has been on applying the technology where it can deliver genuine value.
Outdo has embedded AI across its operations, using it to automate routine tasks and support planning. This includes route optimisation for installation teams and remote surveying of sites, reducing travel time and operational cost.
In manufacturing, Winder Power, a Leeds-based manufacturer of power and distribution transformers, has introduced AI in a controlled way to support day-to-day activity. Finance Controller Gavin Ackroyd says the priority has been improving consistency and efficiency, with clear parameters around how the technology is used.
Vyta Health, a Barnsley-based health and wellbeing products business, is applying AI across data analysis and product optimisation. CEO Will Brennand says its value depends on the quality of underlying data and that human judgement remains central to decision-making.
“The most effective applications of AI are highly targeted,” says Laura. “They focus on clearly defined outcomes such as improving a process, reducing administrative workload or extracting more value from data. When businesses anchor AI use to a specific goal, the benefits are measurable and the impact can be immediate.
“Where challenges emerge is when businesses move too quickly by adopting tools without first understanding the problem they are trying to solve or without establishing the governance needed to assess how the technology is being applied and what it means for the wider organisation.
“In contrast, those taking a more deliberate approach are building capability that is both compliant and resilient. Early use cases typically concentrate on strengthening data visibility, supporting routine operational processes or improving the quality of internal decision making. Only once these foundations are in place do organisations progress into more complex or transformative applications.
“That phased approach gives teams the space to understand how AI behaves in their environment, reduces operational and ethical risk and builds leadership confidence in how the technology is being used.”
Across the Fastest 50, businesses are clear that AI should support, rather than replace, people. At Winder Power, Ackroyd describes a ‘people first’ approach, where AI is used to assist, but accountability remains with experienced staff.
Laura explains: “With companies we’re working with, there is a clear emphasis on using AI to support people rather than replace them. That principle is influencing how the technology is introduced and used in day-to-day operations.
“What we are also seeing is growing confidence in where AI can add value. Instead of broad speculative adoption, businesses are focusing on targeted areas where AI can improve how the organisation runs. That more measured approach is what enables AI to become part of normal operations over time, rather than sitting as a separate initiative.”
* Yorkshire’s fastest growing businesses were recognised in Leeds on Friday 20 March as the Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 Awards returned for their 16th year.
Delivered in partnership with The Yorkshire Post, the event highlights companies that have achieved sustained growth while continuing to invest, expand and create employment across the region despite an increasingly complex economic environment.
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