Warburtons leads food processors in Top Track 250

The league table ranks Britain’s middle-market private companies with the biggest sales across a range of industries. This year saw construction consultancy Turner & Townsend top the table with sales of £774.3m for the year ended April 2020.

Bolton-based Warbutons ranked 22^nd on this year’s league table after securing sales of £506.5m and an operating profit of £21.6m.

The league table attributed a successful advertising campaign starring movie star Robert De Niro as key in reversing a fall in the manufacturer’s profits, as well as a surge in demand for its products due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Breaking the top 100

Also breaking the top 100 were The Billington Group (41^st), with sales of £361.8m, and alcoholic drinks manufacturer Halewood Artisanal Spirits (45^th) with sales of £335m.

Leeds-based baker Country Style Foods came 70^th in the league table with sales of £245.2m. Café group and tea and coffee blender Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate came 83^rd, with £227.4m in sales.

A full list of the food and drink manufacturers featured on this year’s list can be found below.

Seafood supplier Andrew Marr International, while not a processor, even broke into the top 10 list, taking the number six spot with sales of £711.9m. That was despite a sharp drop in demand from export markets and the hospitality sector in the wake of the coronavirus.

Sales and profit fall

Figures from 2020’s Top Track league table also found that total sales across all businesses in this year’s report were down 4.76% compared with the previous year and down 11.76% in relation to 2018. Total operating profit had also fallen – down 13.5% from 2019 and a decrease of 20.3% since 2018.