Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in South West

Number of companies in region South West is 623,823, which is 6.2% of all 10,048,161 companies in UK. South West is ranked 6th among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 31/12/2023.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in South West

The region with the highest number of companies - 113,106 is Dorset. Cornwall has the lowest number of companies - 45,157. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Science - 14.9%, Wholesale, retail - 11.8% and Construction - 10.5%.

Number of companies by county 623,823 companies with data in South West

Dorset
113,106
18.1%
Gloucestershire
107,133
17.2%
Devon
106,410
17.1%
Somerset
101,266
16.2%
Wiltshire
83,131
13.3%
Bristol
67,620
10.8%
Cornwall
45,157
7.2%

Business activity overview 594,540 companies with data in South West

Science
93,037
14.9%
Wholesale, retail
73,386
11.8%
Construction
65,345
10.5%
ICT
59,286
9.5%
Administrative
55,279
8.9%
Real Estate
42,933
6.9%
Accommodation
36,072
5.8%
Manufacturing
29,993
4.8%
Service
29,985
4.8%
Health
26,559
4.3%
Dormant
21,536
3.5%
Arts
20,197
3.2%
Transportation
18,174
2.9%
Home
17,780
2.9%
Financial
16,760
2.7%
Education
16,360
2.6%
Agriculture
7,010
1.1%
Energy
2,497
0.4%
Water
2,284
0.4%
Public
1,836
0.3%
Mining
860
0.1%
Extraterritorial
122
0.0%

Industrial classification of companies in South West

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 - 5.1%, Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate - 4.5% and Other business support service - 4.4%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 594,540 companies with data in South West

Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in South West

The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 4,656 in in March 2023. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for October 2020 - 6,722 companies were dissolved.

Incorporation and dissolution of companies by month South West

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Persons with significant control
in companies in South West

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 West

The most popular country, as regards to PSC origin, is China. In October 2023, there were 873 companies with at least one PCS from China. Other popular countries are United States, France and Pakistan.

Top 10 countries with local PSCs South West

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

The highest proportion of companies with a foreign PSC to be incorporated in one month was in July 2023 - 2.99%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 6.88% was in April 2017. 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 West