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Here is the third part of our 2022 BusinessLive list of the 500 biggest businesses in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire – taking us from 200 down to number 21.

Over the past few days we have been counting down from 500 in anticipation of a Top 20 reveal at a breakfast event this morning at the Radisson Blu Hotel at East Midlands Airport. Straight after the live announcement the Top 20 will be published on BusinessLive.

Looking at the below 179 companies – covering businesses with sales of £66 million to £841 million – it is interesting how many car dealers there are, due to the inevitable high values of the products they sell.

In the past couple of years, though, the sector has had a roller-coaster ride, first with sales hit by Covid, then by supply shortages. Despite that many have benefitted from vehicle price inflation even though actual car sales are now slowing – recently suffering the second worst May in three decades.

There are also a number of big fashion businesses in the region featuring in our Top 200, including the likes of Shoe Zone, Joules, Deichmann Shoes and Paul Smith.

Leicester's Watches of Switzerland sits just outside the Top 20, bolstered by its high value products and helped by the fact that the people who can afford to buy them continue to have more disposable income while the rest of us are struggling.

Housebuilders feature prominently, including Leicestershire's Davidsons, Jelson and William Davis, and Miller Homes in Derbyshire. Two more huge homebuilders make it into the Top 20 – to find out who they are you will need to hold on for that list to go up.

New Derby County owner Clowes Developments features at 130, and chairman David Clowes will be hoping County are soon competing with Leicester City on and off the field, who are in 88^th position.