Dexters estate agency has been chosen for the third consecutive year in the London Stock Exchange and Growth Intelligence list of 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain.

It is the only business in the entire real estate sector to have been included in the list for the past three years in a row.

Compiled each year as part of a special business report by the LSE, the list highlights the UK’s most exciting businesses – and often ones that could float in the future.

Dexters has over 80 offices across London. Founded in Twickenham in 1993, Dexters now employs more than 1,200 people, selling and letting upwards of 12,000 London properties per year.

Last month, Dexters bought failed London firm Jacksons out of administration in a pre-pack deal, partly on the basis that it would make good the firm’s tenants’ deposits – understood to collectively represent an enormous sum that could have proved a scandal for the industry, were it not for Dexters’ intervention.

Since 2008, Dexters has invested more than £100m into its growth, without external capital.

It currently achieves a turnover of around £70m, with profits at approximately £15m this year.

Founder Jeff Doble said: “I set out 23 years ago to create a company that challenged both customer and staff perceptions of how estate agencies operate.”

The LSE finds its 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain using technology which monitors the performance of every registered business in the UK.

To be included, companies must show sustained revenue growth above the levels of their competitors, as well as other factors such as an increase in employee numbers and work space.

It is, however, a curious document. While published only very recently, it nevertheless prominently quotes George Osborne as Chancellor.