Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in South East

Number of companies in region South East is 1,392,278, which is 12.4% of all 11,244,769 companies in UK. South East is ranked 2nd among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 30/04/2025.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in South East

The region with the highest number of companies - 247,896 is Hampshire. Medway has the lowest number of companies - 39,935. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Science - 16.4%, Wholesale, retail - 11.7% and ICT - 10.7%.

Number of companies by county 1,392,278 companies with data in South East

Hampshire
247,896
17.8%
Kent
230,735
16.6%
Surrey
212,404
15.3%
Berkshire
167,829
12.1%
Buckinghamshire
151,602
10.9%
East Sussex
136,462
9.8%
West Sussex
115,083
8.3%
Oxfordshire
90,332
6.5%
Medway
39,935
2.9%

Business activity overview 1,338,550 companies with data in South East

Science
228,647
16.4%
Wholesale, retail
162,925
11.7%
ICT
149,578
10.7%
Construction
144,874
10.4%
Administrative
141,970
10.2%
Real Estate
104,107
7.5%
Service
72,217
5.2%
Accommodation
65,447
4.7%
Health
64,278
4.6%
Manufacturing
54,699
3.9%
Transportation
45,323
3.3%
Dormant
44,201
3.2%
Financial
41,924
3.0%
Arts
41,838
3.0%
Home
32,673
2.3%
Education
30,927
2.2%
Agriculture
8,289
0.6%
Water
4,725
0.3%
Public
3,854
0.3%
Energy
3,695
0.3%
Mining
1,650
0.1%
Extraterritorial
349
0.0%

Industrial classification of companies in South East

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 Management consultancy exl. financial - 6.3%, Other business support service - 5.2% and Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate - 4.8%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 1,338,550 companies with data in South East

Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in South East

The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 9,503 in in April 2024. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for October 2020 - 13,985 companies were dissolved.

Incorporation and dissolution of companies by month South East

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Persons with significant control
in companies in South East

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 South East

The most popular country, as regards to PSC origin, is United States. In April 2025, there were 1,692 companies with at least one PCS from United States. Other popular countries are China, Hungary and Germany.

Top 10 countries with local PSCs South East

Percentage of companies with foreign PSCs being incorporated each month in the South East

The highest proportion of companies with a foreign PSC to be incorporated in one month was in December 2023 - 1.95%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 5.88% was in August 2020. 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 South East