Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in South West

Number of companies in region South West is 681,929, which is 6.0% of all 11,315,337 companies in UK. South West is ranked 6th 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 South West

The region with the highest number of companies - 123,147 is Dorset. Cornwall has the lowest number of companies - 49,901. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Science - 14.8%, Wholesale, retail - 12.2% and Construction - 10.5%.

Number of companies by county 681,929 companies with data in South West

Dorset
123,147
18.1%
Gloucestershire
118,435
17.4%
Devon
117,477
17.2%
Somerset
109,639
16.1%
Wiltshire
90,575
13.3%
Bristol
72,755
10.7%
Cornwall
49,901
7.3%

Business activity overview 651,880 companies with data in South West

Science
101,214
14.8%
Wholesale, retail
83,454
12.2%
Construction
71,522
10.5%
ICT
63,840
9.4%
Administrative
59,608
8.7%
Real Estate
50,151
7.4%
Accommodation
41,143
6.0%
Service
33,289
4.9%
Manufacturing
32,401
4.8%
Health
29,508
4.3%
Arts
22,605
3.3%
Dormant
22,562
3.3%
Financial
19,591
2.9%
Transportation
19,336
2.8%
Home
19,069
2.8%
Education
18,338
2.7%
Agriculture
7,631
1.1%
Energy
2,798
0.4%
Water
2,508
0.4%
Public
2,089
0.3%
Mining
894
0.1%
Extraterritorial
127
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 - 5.2%, Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate - 4.9% and Other business support service - 4.1%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 651,880 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 4,622 in in March 2023. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for October 2020 - 6,719 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 May 2025, there were 894 companies with at least one PCS from China. Other popular countries are United States, Pakistan and France.

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 December 2021 - 2.95%. 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