SUFFOLK-based animal feed group BOCM Pauls is named at the East of England's biggest mid-market private company in the new Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 league table, to be published at the weekend.

SUFFOLK-based animal feed group BOCM Pauls is named at the East of England's biggest mid-market private company in the new Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 league table, to be published at the weekend.

BOCM Pauls, whose head office in Ipswich, is ranked 21st overall in the annual listing of Britain's medium-sized private companies, with turnover of £354.7million for the year to December 2005.

The company - which according to the listing is 89% owned by its management and employees, with private equity firm Cognetas (formerly Electra Partners Europe) holding 8% - is the UK's biggest animal feed maker, producing two million tonnes of feed a year from 14 mills across the country.

In second place on the regional list, and 47th nationally, is the Norwich-based Anglian Group, 90% owned by Alchemy Partners and specialising in double glazing and other home improvement products, with sales of £292.2million for the year to April 2007.

Norfolk-based building contractor R G Carter, which remains 100% owned by Robert Carter and his family, is ranked third in the region and 51st nationally with sales of £288.6million for the year to December 2005.

Other regional companies on the list include Norwich-based media publisher Archant (163rd), whose titles include the East Anglian Daily Times, the Robinsons Motor Group (186th), also based in Norwich, salad and vegetable grower G's (189th), based at Barway in Cambridgeshire, Thetford-based cleaning products company Jeyes (194th) and BGL Group of Peterborough (229th), the firm behind the Budget insurance brand.

Nationally, the 250 companies on the list generated combined sales of £58billion and directly employed more than 416,000 staff, representing around 4% of GDP and 1.4% of the UK workforce. Household names include Weetabix, Selfridges, Warburtons and Virgin Active.

The table was compiled by Oxford-based research company Fast Track and is sponsored by banking group HSBC and accountants KPMG. The full finding will be published with the The Sunday Times on October 14 and at www.fastrack.co.uk .