Verus Research staff, from left, Matt Domonkos, high power systems group senior director; J. Mark DelGrande, chief technology officer; Catherine Lambert, director of contacts; Daniel Treibel, sensors and instrumentation group senior director; Tony Byers, CEO; Walter Clover, software development and applications group senior director; Sameer Hemmady, advanced concepts senior director, and Hank Andrews, managing director and chief financial officer.

The company – which works on lasers, high-power microwaves, and nuclear engineering – has now won the No. 1 spot for Flying 40 firms with above $10 million in revenue for two years in a row.

At the end of 2019, the company employed 58 people, up from the 15 it employed five years ago.

Mr Richard Devid

Like Verus, most companies on the Flying 40 list report double- and triple-digit growth over the last five years. That includes small firms that expanded their income within the $1 million to $10 million range, and larger ones that soared past the $10 million mark.

Some reported growth in the tens of millions. Affordable Solar, for example, more than doubled its revenue from $58.7 million in 2015 to $141.3 million last year. Its workforce grew four-fold in the same period, from 27 to 106 employees.