Two of the largest employers in the East of England - Marshall Group and Anglian Water - feature on the latest league table of Britain's 100 biggest private companies.

Published this weekend, the 13th annual Sunday Times Top Track 100 league table ranks Britain's 100 private companies with the biggest sales.

The two companies in the East region together employ 10,500 people, have combined sales of £2.7bn and profits of £759m.

Robert Marshall, group chief executive and the fourth generation to run family-owned Marshall Group, oversaw sales growth of 15pc last year, to £1.3bn.

The increase was helped by an 18pc rise in sales at its largest division, its car dealerships. It is based at Cambridge airport, which it owns and intends to grow into a regional hub, already handling flights to and from Jersey, Italy and Switzerland.

Anglian Water was taken private in 2006 in a £2.2bn deal by a consortium that includes Canadian and Australian institutional investors and private equity house 3i. The group became the first water company to achieve the Carbon Trust's water efficiency standard in March. Managing director Peter Simpson oversaw 2013 sales of £1.4bn.

The companies in the East of England feature alongside a number of high-profile national brands, including Clarks, Dyson, JCB and Virgin Atlantic.

The Top Track 100 annual league table is sponsored by Linklaters. It is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events company.