Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in London

Number of companies in region London is 3,127,272, which is 29.6% of all 10,575,505 companies in UK. London is ranked 1st among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 30/06/2024.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in London

The region with the highest number of companies - 3,021,682 is Greater London. City of London has the lowest number of companies - 105,590. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Wholesale, retail - 15.8%, Science - 14.1% and ICT - 11.5%.

Number of companies by county 3,127,272 companies with data in London

Greater London
3,021,682
96.6%
City of London
105,590
3.4%

Business activity overview 2,938,074 companies with data in London

Wholesale, retail
495,332
15.8%
Science
441,124
14.1%
ICT
360,475
11.5%
Administrative
352,044
11.3%
Real Estate
255,325
8.2%
Construction
234,896
7.5%
Service
199,219
6.4%
Accommodation
145,091
4.6%
Financial
132,740
4.2%
Health
124,138
4.0%
Dormant
120,645
3.9%
Manufacturing
95,298
3.0%
Arts
86,611
2.8%
Education
75,933
2.4%
Transportation
73,370
2.3%
Home
47,057
1.5%
Energy
10,899
0.3%
Public
8,102
0.3%
Agriculture
6,943
0.2%
Water
6,886
0.2%
Mining
5,695
0.2%
Extraterritorial
1,951
0.1%

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 - 6.7%, Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet - 5.5% and Management consultancy exl. financial - 5.3%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 2,938,074 companies with data in London

Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in London

The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 33,060 in in April 2024. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for March 2021 - 30,987 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 June 2024, there were 21,891 companies with at least one PCS from China. Other popular countries are Morocco, United States and Turkey.

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 October 2021 - 10.04%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 16.31% 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.

Percentage of companies with foreign persons (PSC) incorporated and dissolved each month London