A HOST of technology firms in York and North Yorkshire were today celebrating being among the top 50 fast growing enterprises in the North.

They are among a record 17 Yorkshire companies placed in the Deloitte and Touche Fast 50 awards which saw Shopcreator plc, of Tadcaster, finishing fourth - the highest placed Yorkshire-based winner. Since 1998 the Internet services business has had a growth rate of 1,877.825 per cent. At the Fast 50 "Oscars" dinner at the Meridien Palace Hotel, Manchester, its managing director Andy Rix was described as a "visionary".

Ranked 12th was Ioko 365 Ltd, the IT services company at York Science Park founded by David Griffiths, 28, and Mark Christie, 31, the organisation which scooped Growth Business of the Year in the Evening Press Business of the Year 2001.

York Nutritional Laboratories, of Osbaldwick, overall winner of the 1999 Evening Press Business of the Year, was placed 17th. Ranked 19th was Harrogate-based SquareSum plc, author of the award-winning DREAM accounting system used by large organisations and their subsidiaries worldwide. Dot Com Imaging, of Nether Poppleton, was placed 20th with March Intranet Ltd, of Boroughbridge, at 23rd. Industrial Textiles & Plastics Ltd, of York, was 46th, and Welcom Software plc, of Harrogate, 48th. Computer services business Esteem Systems plc, of Wetherby, was ranked 35th, with a growth rate of 71 per cent between 1998 and 2000.

Updated: 09:07 Tuesday, March 19, 2002