Discount chain and betting firm top profit growth table

STOKE-based online bookmaker bet365 and discount chain Poundland are among companies with the fastest growing profits in the Midlands, according to an annual survey.

With growth of 108% per year since 2007, bet365’s annual profits stand at £22.7m, putting it at the number 13 position in the Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100, although the company fell ten places overall since last year’s report.

Discount chain Poundland, based in Willenhall, soared 49 places to claim the number 37 slot, with three-year profit growth of 67% to £22.7m. The chain sells more than 3,000 products each costing £1 from more than 300 stores. Last June, private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired the companyin a deal valuing it at £200m.

Other key names on the list include Birmingham’s Aston Manor Brewery, which claims to be the largest independent producer of cider in the UK. With profits standing at £5m, it has seen growth of 69% over the past three years, and stands at number 35 in the Profit Track list.

PCMS, the Coventry based IT services firm is a new entry at number 40, with profit growth of 65% to £6m. At 38, Stratford’s Apex Credit Management has profits of £3.8m and growth of 66%.

Craegmoor, the Worcestershire care home operator which was bought last month by Priory Group, is at position 85, with growth of 45% to £24m.

The compilers of the Profit Track list said the 12 companies from the East and West Midlands on the list have added more than 2,000 jobs between them over the past three years, and generated profits of more than £237m.

Nationally, the 100 companies on the list grew profits by an average of 72% each year over three years, with combined annual profits of £1.2bn.