DYSON has broken into the top 20 on the list of Britain’s biggest companies according to an annual assessment of the country’s top 100 businesses with the most sales.

The Malmesbury based engineering giant has been ranked 15th in the Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100 league table, moving up nine places on last year when it was ranked 24th.

The survey reports that Dyson’s sales rose by 43 per cent, to £2.5 billion, due to growth in China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The figures put the company, which employs more than 8,500 staff worldwide, among the likes of Harrods, John Lewis and Virgin Atlantic.

Explaining the figures, Dan Howlett, head of corporate banking at HSBC UK, said: “It’s encouraging to see businesses not only thriving in these uncertain times but achieving a higher growth rate than in 2016.

“These companies embody the very best of UK entrepreneurialism with their determination to grow, succeed and seek out new opportunities.

“It’s not just young companies eagerly chasing opportunities, we’re seeing long established companies exercisingsimilar rigour and refusing to become complacent.”

The news comes as Dyson continues with its plans to re-develop the former Ministry of Defence hangers at Hullavington as it pours further investment into North Wiltshire.

The multi-million pound project will see the 517-acre piece of land transformed into a new research and development centre with the company hoping to start moving in by the end of the year.