JCB is top Midlands firm in Britain’s biggest private companies table
13 Midlands companies made the annual Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 league table, the most for a region outside London and the southeast.
The league ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the biggest sales and combined the Midland companies achieved sales of £23.4bn and profits of £1.6bn in their latest financial year, and collectively employ more than 83,000 people.
The region’s top-ranked company is JCB, 11th in the table, which grew its sales 28% to a record £3.4bn in 2017.
JCB will move its cab construction to a new £50m plant near its Rocester headquarters this summer and earlier this week sealed a £75m deal for its forklifts.
Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group was hot on JCB’s heels ranking 12th in the table recording 3.3bn sales. The company restructured in March, closing 27 Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner restaurant. But it has also expanded in other areas such as opening its fourth UK Slim Chickens restaurant in Birmingham’s Grand Central shopping centre last month.
“Once again, Britain’s most ambitious private enterprises have shown their mettle by shrugging off uncertainty, growing their combined sales 14% to a record £220bn,” said Amanda Murphy, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC UK.
“It’s reassuring that UK businesses are navigating change so confidently and the companies in the Top Track 100 are an inspiration to all. The 13 companies in the Midlands are the kinds of firms that provide the backbone of our economy, and we at HSBC UK are thrilled to see them thrive.”
Also in the top 20 is online bookmaker bet365 at 16th, which has a majority shareholder in Stoke City FC and whose turnover grew 25% to £2.9bn in 2018.
Companies were ranked by sales as reported in their latest available accounts.
The West Midlands companies in the Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 are:
