Statistics of companies in UK
Companies population in London
Number of companies in region London is 3,322,687, which is 29.4% of all 11,315,337 companies in UK. London is ranked 1st among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 31/05/2025.
Companies location and business activity breakdown in London
The region with the highest number of companies - 3,211,741 is Greater London. City of London has the lowest number of companies - 110,946. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Wholesale, retail - 16.2%, Science - 14.2% and ICT - 11.7%.
Number of companies by county 3,322,687 companies with data in London
Business activity overview 3,130,467 companies with data in London
Industrial classification of companies in London
The Standard Industrial Classification code (SIC code) is a system of classifying industries in UK by business activities. Each company can operate under multiple SIC codes. The top three business activities for the whole of the UK are Other business support service - 6.4%, Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet - 5.8% and Management consultancy exl. financial - 5.4%.
Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 3,130,467 companies with data in London
Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in London
The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 30,015 in in April 2024. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for March 2021 - 30,975 companies were dissolved.
Incorporation and dissolution of companies by month London
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Persons with significant control
in companies in London
Persons with Significant Control (PSC) have been registered in Companies House since April 2016. PSC have various functions, e.g. ownership of shares or voting rights. In this section we analyse companies with at least one Person with Significant Control from a foreign country.
Top countries with local PSCs in companies in London
The most popular country, as regards to PSC origin, is China. In May 2025, there were 22,306 companies with at least one PCS from China. Other popular countries are Turkey, Morocco and United States.
Top 10 countries with local PSCs London
Percentage of companies with foreign PSCs being incorporated each month in the London
The highest proportion of companies with a foreign PSC to be incorporated in one month was in November 2021 - 10.32%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 16.32% was in November 2022. The low number of dissolutions in 2016 is the result of only a small number of companies registering their PSC in Company House in that year.
