A Warrington-based metal recycler, a Speke-headquartered online retailer and a recruitment consultancy in Manchester are among ten North West companies to make a table ranking Britain's 100 private companies with the biggest sales.

The ten companies headquartered in the North West that have made The Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 have together achieved sales of £12.9bn and profits of £727m in their last financial year, and collectively employ more than 48,000 staff.

The highest-ranked company in the region is Warrington-based European Metal Recycling in 13th overall with sales of £2.52bn. It is followed by Speke-based Shop Direct in 21st with £1.79bn, Crewe-based Radius Payment Solutions in 31st with £1.5bn, Liverpool-based TJ Morris trading as Home Bargains in 33rd with £1.47bn, and Liverpool-based Bibby Line Group in 35th with £1.45bn.

The others are Knowsley-based retailer Matalan in 49th with £1.06bn, Warrington-based Fircroft in 66th with £832m, Blackburn-based Euro Garages in 72nd with £816m, Manchester-based Morson in 77th with £772m, and Altrincham-based NES Global Talent in 97th with £648m.

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

Dan Howlett, head of corporate banking in the UK at HSBC, said: "At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, we can take real comfort from the dynamic private companies across the UK as recognised by the Top Track 100 league table.

"Firms such as these are fundamental in helping to get Britain back to business during this post-Brexit period of uncertainty and the inevitable challenges ahead. These businesses are ambitious, agile and passionate about what they do and will play an important part in helping to drive the British economy forward, domestically and internationally."

The full league table will be published as a six-page broadsheet supplement with the business section of The Sunday Times on 10 July 2016, both in print and on the digital edition, and on the Fast Track website.