A FITNESS clothing and sportswear business founded by two university students four years ago is now the fastest growing private company in the UK.

Gymshark, which is headquartered in Redditch, has posted a 193 per cent increase in sales in the last three years, topping the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table of UK companies with the fastest growing sales.

It was launched by former Aston University students Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan in 2012, but Mr Morgan resigned from the day to day running of the firm in September and the four directors are now Mr Francis, Steve Hewitt, Paul Richardson and Richard Chapple.

Mr Chapple said: "We’re delighted to have come first in 2016’s Fast Track league table; our growth is testament to Ben and founding team’s ability to really listen to our customers or fans and then delivering what they want. We’ll continue to keep this as one of our strategic pillars and continue to build a team of world class people that will unlock another year of triple digit percentage growth. Congratulations also to all the other visionary founders and teams who made the league table."

There are three other Worcestershire companies in the Fast Track 100. In 24th place is cordless appliance manufacturer Gtech, which earlier this year relocated its headquarters from Spetchley to Shire Business Park in Warndon, Worcester. In 77th place is Lioncourt Homes, which is based in Wainwright Way, Warndon, while at 91 is CRUISE.co.uk. a specialist cruise travel agent of Redditch.

Gtech has seen a 96 per cent sales growth in the last three years and Lioncourt a 57 per cent increase, while CRUISE's figure is 53 per cent.

Colin Cole, chief executive of Lioncourt, said: "This is an outstanding achievement that underlines the great team approach at Lioncourt. We have enjoyed a sustained period of growth which is testament to having a strong investor base, sticking to our ten-year business plan, having two strong businesses and maintaining a strong business ethos”. Since its foundation in 2006, the company has grown from a small regional player to one of the largest home builders and land owners in Central England.