FIRMS based in Oxfordshire took first and second places in a competition to find the region's fastest-growing technological enterprises.

Just Results, of Oxford, came in top in the South West regional Fast 50 contest, organised by chartered accountants and management consultants Deloitte and Touche.

Second was digital TV company Oxtel, with corporate growth of 750 per cent.

Just Results, founded by husband-and-wife Michael and Caroline Williams in 1992 to develop and market training videos, registered growth of 1097.6 per cent between 1995-1998.

Now it is in the eCommerce business, producing business-to-business internet sites, hosting more than 100 on its own servers.

Oxtel was founded by Richard Simmons and Alan Buckett in the basement of Richard's family home in Walton Well Road in 1992. Now it employs 30 at new premises in Didcot.

It produces channel-branding equipment for multi-channel digital television, adding logos, stills, video and audio information between programmes to give a channel a particular visual flavour.

Oxtel is now advertising for a finance director and five senior broadcast sales professionals

Computer virus hunter Sophos, of Abingdon, came 11th, Oxford Instruments 24th and marine technologists TSS, of Witney, 26th.

Story date: Thursday 15 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.