A CHESTER-BASED holiday home rental agency has made the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 list for the first time.

Fast-growing tech business, Sykes Holiday Cottages, was ranked 90th in the UK-wide list, which celebrates and showcases the success of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies.

In 2018, Sykes was named as a ‘One to Watch’, but this is the first time the company has landed an acclaimed spot on the Fast Track 100 league table.

The listing follows Vitruvian Partners’ investment, towards the end of 2019, which has supported Sykes’ expansion across the UK and overseas.

Graham Donoghue, CEO at Sykes Holiday Cottages, said: “We’re so proud of this achievement – it’s a brilliant recognition of the hard work put in by our entire team, who are ultimately the driving force in our success.

“After starting out at a kitchen table nearly three decades ago, we’ve grown very quickly and last year helped more than 1 million people enjoy holidays throughout the UK.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for the business in 2021.”

Five years ago, Sykes employed 232 people and had around 6,000 holiday homes on its books. It now rents out more than 19,500 properties across the UK, Ireland and New Zealand and has over 600 employees, the majority of whom are usually based at its HQ in One City Place, near Chester train station.

The holiday cottage rental agency recently maintained its winning streak as the ‘Best Large UK Cottage Holiday Company’ at the prestigious British Travel Awards for the eighth consecutive year.

This year, it was also named as one of the Sunday Times’ 75 best companies to work for in the North West.