Stellar Growth and Excellent Customer Experience Go Hand in Hand

On March 22nd, The Financial Times published its latest annual ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. We at Ombea are so happy to have made the cut!.

The list comprises the 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe across a variety of industries from banking, through energy to retail, and telecommunications.

So how did these 1,000 companies make the list? What do Bulb Energy and Chilly's Bottles have in common (despite the fact that they are both based in the UK)? The short answer is — excellent customer experience —, proven by the tens of thousands of online customer ratings.

Intrigued by this correlation between customer experience and growth, Ombea has taken a look at some of the fastest-growing companies from the list. How do they compare in terms of their customer experience? To make it to Ombea’s top CX list, a company had to be on the FT-1000 list and also have at least 100 Trustpilot reviews. We picked Trustpilot as it is the UK’s most visible independent review site.

Growth and customer experience are intertwined

UK CX Leaders (100 to 20,000 reviews)

Most of the fastest-growing companies delivered exceptional customer experience.

Of the 25 businesses in the UK, 17 were praised by their customers for delivering excellent customer experience, 4 companies were described as great, and the remaining 4 as average. Unsurprisingly, we couldn’t find any business with a subpar customer experience (customer rating below 2.8 stars), which further supports our contention that stellar growth and excellent customer experience go hand in hand.

Our data also show that the average customer rating for the UK’s fastest-growing companies was 4.53 / 5. This is absolutely exceptional, and far ahead of average online rating of 3.7 / 5.

UK CX Leaders (20,000 to 100,000 reviews)

Bulb Energy and Chilly’s Bottles have left everyone else behind in terms of the sheer number of positive reviews.

The number of customer reviews has surprised us as well. On average, companies in the Ombea list had 9,083 reviews, yet two companies clearly stood out: Bulb Energy and Chilly's Bottles were rated by 70,000 and 90,000 customers respectively, and both were deemed as delivering excellent experiences at all times!

Here’s a full list of the fastest-growing UK companies, including their position on the FT1000 list, average CX evaluation, and a total number of reviews.

#FT PositionCompanyCountryTrustpilot ScoreCustomer EvaluationNumber of Reviews
189BumperUK4.9Excellent5366
2428Payment AssistUK4.9Excellent1248
392L'Estrange LondonUK4.8Excellent487
4466HyperopticUK4.8Excellent9718
512LandbayUK4.7Excellent138
6216Capital On TapUK4.7Excellent7989
7223Funding OptionsUK4.7Excellent788
8287Oppo BrothersUK4.7Excellent292
91Bulb EnergyUK4.6Excellent69477
10307VitlUK4.6Excellent608
1113Chilly's BottlesUK4.5Excellent91418
12274LaundryheapUK4.5Excellent3957
13419Wolf & BadgerUK4.5Excellent3065
1464QmeeUK4.4Excellent1176
15134Crowd PropertyUK4.4Excellent113
16286FruugoUK4.4Excellent6315
17288GoustoUK4.4Excellent16956
183Everflow GroupUK4.2Great453
19379gohenryUK4.1Great3951
20438OoniUK4.1Great703
2126Octopus EnergyUK3.8Great161
22440Tropic SkincareUK3.7Average188
23198Lending WorksUK3.6Average1601
2443Elvie*UK3.4Average546
2583DividoUK3Average364

What keeps customers happy?

We took a closer look at what keeps customers delighted and wanting to come back. It turns out that regardless of the industry, a company must measure its staff’s friendliness. This was mentioned in nearly every positive review. Online retailers (if they are not a single-product company) should check periodically if customers are happy with the product selection, while financial service providers must focus on speed and clarity. In addition, nearly all fast-growing utility companies made it extremely simple to switch, which was highly praised as well.

Here’s a more in-depth look at what made each company successful:

Bumper

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Quick service
  • Extremely easy to use
  • Helpful staff

Payment Assist

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Friendly helpful staff
  • Easy to use
  • Quick service

L'Estrange London

Online retailer.

What makes customers happy:

  • Product selection
  • Quality
  • Fast delivery

Hyperoptic

Internet provider.

What makes customers happy:

  • Lightning-fast service
  • Easy to set up
  • Friendly staff

Landbay

Market operator.

What makes customers happy:

  • Quick service
  • Competitive rates
  • Professional staff

Capital on Tap

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Friendly staff
  • Easy process
  • Excellent dashboard

Funding Options

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Top-notch service
  • Helpful staff
  • Efficient process

Oppo Brothers

Food retail.

What makes customers happy:

  • World-class product.
  • Fantastic delivery experience.
  • Product selection.

Bulb Energy

Electric utility company.

What makes customers happy:

  • Large savings.
  • Friendly staff.
  • Easy to switch.

VITL

Health consultant.

What makes customers happy:

  • Very good customer service.
  • Great packaging.
  • Product selection.

Chilly's Bottles

Fashion accessories store.

What makes customers happy:

  • Great customer service.
  • Great product design.
  • Fast delivery.

Laundryheap

Dry cleaner.

What makes customers happy:

  • Hassle-free process.
  • A pleasure to talk to staff.
  • A prompt service.

Wolf & Badger

Clothing store.

What makes customers happy:

  • Fast shipping.
  • Great product quality.
  • Smooth returns process.

Qmee

Paid surveys.

What makes customers happy:

  • Easy to use.
  • Easy to withdraw money.
  • Great customer service.

CrowdProperty

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Transparent service.
  • Reliable and good returns.
  • Simple to use.

Fruugo UK

Online retailer.

What makes customers happy:

  • Great product selection.
  • Competitive pricing.
  • Very quick delivery.

Gousto

Online food ordering service

What makes customers happy:

  • Exceptional consistent quality.
  • Great product range.
  • Helpful customer service.

Everflow Group

Utility company.

What makes customers happy:

  • Polite staff.
  • Easy to switch.
  • Clear billing.

gohenry

Alternative financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Highly educational.
  • Great product design.
  • Quick customer service.

Ooni

Online retailer.

What makes customers happy:

  • Great product.
  • Great customer service.
  • Fun to use.

Octopus Energy

Energy supplier.

What makes customers happy:

  • Extreme clarity.
  • Quick customer support.
  • Polite staff.

Tropic Skincare

Online retailer.

What makes customers happy:

  • Product quality.
  • Excellent product range.
  • Prompt delivery.

Lending Works

Non-bank financial service.

What makes customers happy:

  • Quick service.
  • Clear UX and easy to use.
  • Competitive pricing.

Elvie

Product company. Online retailer.

What makes customers happy:

  • Easy to use.
  • Simple instructions.
  • Good customer service.

Divido

Automation company.

What makes customers happy:

  • Friendly staff.
  • Straightforward online process.
  • Prompt replies from the company.

The bottom line

We hope you enjoy this comprehensive look into how great CX has fueled the growth of the UK’s fastest-growing companies! Feel free to share it, save it, send it to whoever might be interested! We would love to hear what you think!

We will continue to keep an eye on great customer experience examples and keep these lists updated. Meanwhile, please reach out here if we forgot anything!

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