THE research carried out by Grant Thornton and the CBI is a powerful snapshot of what is happening to the East Midlands economy and its companies.
Phil Sayers said the research was carried out in the SME market, an area in which Grant Thornton specialises.
"We wanted to understand what was happening to companies in the East Midlands and find out where the good news stories were and to celebrate them," he said.
"These are the fastest-growing companies in the East Midlands, growing the number of employees at 3% a year, faster than we anticipated. They have also grown salaries by about 3% a year at a time when the general economy has been relatively flat."
Although manufacturing in the region is slightly bigger than services, in Notts it is the other way round.
Mr Sayers said: "The export side of manufacturing is a really strong story. About 59% of manufacturers are getting some turnover from exports."
Grant Thornton and the CBI interviewed some of the companies on the list to get a flavour of how they became fast-growth businesses.
"There are some themes coming out, such as the agility of some companies, reactive but being proactive towards the issues the market has thrown at them," said Mr Sayers. "They have very clear strategies in terms of what they are doing and understand their sector of the market.
"The strategy has not necessarily been static over the three-year period we have studied. Firms changed their strategies to reflect the market and the key issues they needed to address.
"Virtually all companies have done some form of rationalisation.
"The table is about sustained growth over a three-year period and while cost-cutting may get you there in the short term, it is unlikely to give you that sustained growth over the longer period.
"Virtually all companies have done some cost-cutting but when you look at the underlying measures such as profitability per employee, and average margin, all they were doing was removing some flab and getting into a sensible position."
Mr Sayers said he hoped some of the companies would create the future wealth of the East Midlands.
Lucy Haynes, regional director of the CBI, noted that some companies had stepped up their export efforts to make up for falls in domestic sales.
"For some businesses, if they hadn't had their export strategy, they would not be in the position they are in now," she said. "Their figures may have looked considerably less favourable.
"The list confirms two things. First, it is the medium-sized businesses that are growing through a difficult time. They are the forgotten army of the UK business sector.
"We would like to emulate what we see in Germany, the German Mittelstand, highly-focused businesses.
"Secondly, it confirms to us in the current climate where there are emerging markets overseas, it is those businesses that are seeking out those customers that are thriving."
One of the themes to emerge is the debt-cash position of the Top 200 East Midlands firms.
Mr Sayers said: "If we look overall, the total debt position of the 200 companies has gone up but by about £9m, not a huge increase. But the net debt position, the debt less the cash on their balance sheets, has gone down dramatically. It supports the feeling that a lot of companies are collecting and hoarding cash on their balance sheets.
"But the story underneath is a real mixed bag. There are those businesses which have clearly invested and they have grown their profits, turnover and so on, through investment, people, new machinery and new plant. There are those who have battened down the hatches and, with better management, have gone after higher margin business. Turnover might have fallen slightly but they are selling a different product with a higher margin."
Two themes emerged, said Ms Haynes. First was a service- driven sales strategy when a manufacturer would tailor a bespoke solution for a customer. Second was around skills and people management. Companies, during a difficult time, valued communication with their staff.
"Lots of managing directors held small sessions with their employees, first to brief them on the realities of the climate they were operating in but secondly, to get their views on how things could be done differently," said Ms Haynes.
She said companies were keen to take on apprentices and shape them into the firm's thinking, taking on their values and ethos.
Directors' pay fell by 18% over the three-year period while employee pay rose by an average of 3% a year.
"The fall in directors' pay may be explained by them taking dividends rather than a salary, reducing their bonus while their underlying pay remains the same," said Mr Sayer. "There is a fall in pension payments for directors.
"During a period where a lot of SMEs have been talking about a lack of funding, the owner-managers are actually investing in the business in a period when they need liquidity to enable them to grow the business. It could be a combination of any of those factors."