Boparan's 2 Sisters Food Group is Midlands biggest privately owned business

The one-time butcher's assistant from Bilston has built his food empire into a business with £3.1 billion in sales.

Despite a recent drop in profits and the closure of its Smethwick poultry plant, the company is still piling on the sales and this weekend is listed as the highest ranking West Midlands company in the annual Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 league table of Britain’s 100 private companies with the biggest sales.

The list includes 16 companies headquartered in the Midlands which have made a significant contribution to the regional economy. Together they achieved sales of £21.8bn and profits of £1.6bn in their last financial year, and collectively employ more than 103,000 people.

2 Sister Food Group tops the table in the Midlands and stands in ninth position overall.

Staffordshire digger manufacturer JCB, owned by the Bamford family, is another in the top 20 business, with 8,875 workers in the UK and overseas. In 2015 it made £163m profit on sales of £2.34bn.

The family-owned AF Blakemore and Son food distribution group, based in Willenhall, employs more than 7,500 people and in the 12 months to April last year made £18m profit on sales of £1.28bn.

Based in Shrewsbury but with major sites in Willenhall and Bilston, the Greenhous car and commercial vehicle dealership employs over 1,000 people and had sales of more than £1bn last year, although profits were just £6m.

The companies in the Midlands appear with businesses from around the UK, including high-profile national brands such as Clarks, Dyson, Specsavers and Virgin Atlantic.

Despite the economic and political uncertainty facing the UK following the decision to leave the EU, almost three quarters of the table (72 companies) increased sales in their last financial year.

The league table is sponsored by HSBC and Linklaters, and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events company.

Dan Howlett, head of corporate banking at HSBC UK, said: “It’s encouraging to see so many businesses not only thriving in these uncertain times, but achieving a higher growth rate than in 2016.

"These companies embody the very best of UK entrepreneurialism with their determination to grow, succeed and seek out new opportunities. And it’s not just young companies eagerly chasing opportunities, we’re seeing long established companies exercising similar rigour and refusing to become complacent.

"I look forward to both helping and watching these businesses continue to go from strength to strength."