A KENT-BASED financial group is one of the fastest-growing private equity backed businesses in the UK for the second year in a row.

Cabot Financial Group, which has its head office in Kings Hill, West Malling, and is a specialist in consumer debt purchase, featured 89th in the second annual Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100.

The league table ranks Britain's 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits over the latest two years. Cabot was ranked 38th in the 2007 listing.

It ranks businesses according to two-year annual profit growth ranges between 22 per cent and 122 per cent, with profits between £3million and £50million.

Cabot's annual profit growth was just over 27 per cent, with profits rising from £14.8million in financial year 2004/5 to £24.1million in 2006/7.

Its private equity investors are Nikko Citigroup (69%), Barclays Private Equity (10%), management (18%) and others (3%).

Ken Maynard, chief executive officer, said appearing in the list for the second year running was great recognition of the hard work and dedication of his team.

He said: "We have built a fantastic business over the last decade, both in the UK and in Europe with the opening of offices in Ireland and Spain last year.

"With the support of our investors, Nikko and Barclays, we will continue to grow the company while maintaining our ethical philosophy of treating customers with respect."

The company, founded 10 years ago, recently opened a new £5m HQ at Kings Hill where it employs around 350 people.

Growth has come from its pioneering concept of buying debt from lending institutions. Soaring debt levels among consumers, now as high as £3 billion, has placed Cabot Financial in the right place at the right time.

Banks and other lenders have been keen to offload their debt book to specialist companies like Cabot, which has now become one of the market leaders in the UK and mainland Europe.