AN ONLINE marketplace whose founder was warned that taking on Amazon and eBay was a “losing battle” has been named one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies.

Bournemouth-based OnBuy is 11th in the UK Technology Fast 20, a ranking of the country’s fastest-growing tech companies, compiled by Deloitte.

The business, which has seen 3,402 per cent revenue growth over the past four years, came top in the south west region.

Previous award winners have included Skyscanner, Just Eat, Deliveroo and Revolut.

OnBuy was launched in 2016 by Cas Paton, who says he was told it would be “impossible to gain scale” in a market dominated by existing big players.

The business, headquartered in Dean Park Crescent, now has 17,000 retailers offering 42million products and employs 150 people.

Mr Paton, 38, said: “When I launched OnBuy six years ago, I was told time and time again by industry ‘experts’ that taking on the likes of Amazon was a ‘losing battle’ and ‘impossible’.

“While these comments, from people who were ‘in the know’ at the time, gave me pause for thought, I was always steadfast in my belief that there was room for an online marketplace that does things differently. We were told a UK marketplace would never be able to compete with the big hitters, but now look -- we have done the ‘impossible’."

Mr Paton left school at 16 and joined the Royal Navy, where he was an aircraft engineer for four years. He set up a tech development company with the last £80 he had in the bank and developed it until he moved into consultancy.

He said it was a “natural leap” to enter e-commerce in his mid-20s.

He added: “While we know there is room for multiple online marketplaces, our incredible growth since launching, particularly over the past two years, has put us hot on the tails of the likes of Amazon and eBay."

Duncan Down, lead partner for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme, said: “The exceptional growth of this year’s Fast 50 is a marker of the ongoing strength and resilience of the UK’s technology industry, which continues to thrive despite considerable headwinds.”