Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in South West

Number of companies in region South West is 654,726, which is 6.1% of all 10,704,682 companies in UK. South West is ranked 6th among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 31/08/2024.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in South West

The region with the highest number of companies - 119,053 is Dorset. Cornwall has the lowest number of companies - 47,566. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Science - 14.9%, Wholesale, retail - 12.1% and Construction - 10.5%.

Number of companies by county 654,726 companies with data in South West

Dorset
119,053
18.2%
Gloucestershire
112,936
17.2%
Devon
111,891
17.1%
Somerset
106,294
16.2%
Wiltshire
87,040
13.3%
Bristol
69,946
10.7%
Cornwall
47,566
7.3%

Business activity overview 625,159 companies with data in South West

Science
97,235
14.9%
Wholesale, retail
79,088
12.1%
Construction
68,621
10.5%
ICT
61,916
9.5%
Administrative
57,867
8.8%
Real Estate
46,408
7.1%
Accommodation
38,555
5.9%
Service
31,602
4.8%
Manufacturing
31,388
4.8%
Health
28,109
4.3%
Dormant
22,146
3.4%
Arts
21,424
3.3%
Transportation
18,694
2.9%
Home
18,381
2.8%
Financial
18,156
2.8%
Education
17,344
2.6%
Agriculture
7,325
1.1%
Energy
2,621
0.4%
Water
2,401
0.4%
Public
1,959
0.3%
Mining
871
0.1%
Extraterritorial
128
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 - 4.7% and Other business support service - 4.3%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 625,159 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 4,680 in in March 2023. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for October 2020 - 6,720 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 August 2024, there were 913 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 - 2.92%. 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