Shrewsbury-based Greenhous moves up rankings of biggest private companies in Britain
Shropshire-based car dealership chain Greenhous has moved up the rankings of Britain's biggest privately-owned companies.
The Shrewsbury-headquartered company, which sells a variety of car and van marques at dealerships across the West Midlands and Wales, has moved from 60th to 54th on the list of Britain's 100 private companies with the biggest sales.
It saw sales grow to £1.01 billion last year, and in a notoriously-low margin industry achieved profits of £6 million.
Of the 16 West Midlands companies to make it onto the list, Greenhous was the eighth biggest by sales.
The highest-ranked company in the region is Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group with sales of £3.1bn. The Birmingham-based food producer is led by founder Ranjit Boparan.
Published over the weekend, the 16th annual Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the biggest sales.
Together the West Midlands' companies achieved sales of £21.8bn and profits of £1.6bn in their last financial year, and collectively employ more than 103,000 people.
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."
