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An online betting company, a digger manufacturer and a pork pie producer are among the Midlands businesses named in a prestigious list of British companies which reported the biggest sales prior to Covid-19.

The 19th annual Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 league table ranks the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's 100 private companies with the biggest sales.

And 13 companies from the Midlands - which collectively employ more than 85,300 people - made the prestigious ranking this year, achieving sales of £23.8bn and profits of £1.8bn in their latest financial year.

Gambling-giant bet365 and digger-maker JCB, based in Staffordshire, along with Leicestershire food producer Melton Mowbray and 2 Sisters Food Group in Birmingham are among the Midlands firms in this year's list.

Amanda Murphy, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC º£½ÇÊÓƵ, said: "Uncertainty and volatility remain watchwords in the current climate but we at HSBC º£½ÇÊÓƵ are confident that Britain’s business leaders, such as those at the helm of the companies in the Midlands on this year’s Top Track 100, will rise to the challenge.

"The country has found new reserves of energy in the face of adversity and the businesses that can harness that energy and pace of change will thrive in the ‘new normal’."

This year, the 100 companies featuring in the list reached a record £237bn in total sales, up eight per cent on the prior year and total profits up by seven per cent to £28bn.