Six families, 39 trades.
Companies House does not publish a trade. It publishes SIC codes, and a company can carry up to four of them. The 39 groups below are ours: each one is a set of SIC codes we picked because a small business would recognise it as a trade. The six families are ours too, and exist only to keep the colour on every chart meaningful. Here is exactly what sits in each, so you can see what a family does and does not include.
Management consultancy, Web & software development, IT consultancy, Advertising & design, Business support services, Architecture & engineering, Education & training, IT support, Estate agents, Accounting, Recruitment, Photography, Legal services Retail and food 126,759 8 trades · Last 12 months
Online retail, Takeaways, Restaurants & cafes, Hairdressing & beauty, Convenience stores, Catering & events, Pubs & bars, Wholesale Property 80,044 2 trades · Last 12 months
Property investment & letting, Property management Building and trades 74,672 4 trades · Last 12 months
Construction, Electricians, Plumbers & HVAC, Landscaping People and care 41,761 7 trades · Last 12 months
Health practitioners, Cleaning services, Care services, Fitness, Security services, Childcare, Veterinary Transport and logistics 35,916 5 trades · Last 12 months
Freight & couriers, Motor vehicle repair, Used car dealers, Taxi & private hire, Removals
A company carrying more than one SIC code can land in more than one group, and a company whose codes sit outside all 39 is not counted at all. So the family totals add up to the total of the rows, not to a headcount of every company on the register. Every SIC code in every group is listed on the method page, and each family card above opens on a page of its own.
Every trade, busiest first.
Companies registered during October 2026, and the running total for the twelve months to the end of that month. Each trade opens on its own page, where the same count is broken down across every town with enough volume to be worth reading.
- Building and trades
- Digital and professional
- Retail and food
- Transport and logistics
- People and care
- Property
| Trade | Oct 2026 | Last 12 months | Relative October volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property. Property investment & letting | 4,948 | 60,942 | |
| Building and trades. Construction | 4,679 | 58,096 | |
| Retail and food. Online retail | 4,346 | 43,154 | |
| Digital and professional. Management consultancy | 2,747 | 33,040 | |
| Digital and professional. Web & software development | 2,445 | 22,711 | |
| Retail and food. Takeaways | 1,716 | 19,256 | |
| Transport and logistics. Freight & couriers | 1,625 | 15,232 | |
| Retail and food. Restaurants & cafes | 1,561 | 17,999 | |
| Property. Property management | 1,525 | 19,102 | |
| Digital and professional. IT consultancy | 1,456 | 16,621 | |
| People and care. Health practitioners | 1,377 | 18,069 | |
| Digital and professional. Advertising & design | 1,179 | 13,386 | |
| Digital and professional. Architecture & engineering | 1,123 | 11,446 | |
| Retail and food. Convenience stores | 1,056 | 11,914 | |
| People and care. Cleaning services | 1,030 | 11,787 | |
| Retail and food. Hairdressing & beauty | 995 | 12,644 | |
| Digital and professional. Education & training | 986 | 10,613 | |
| Digital and professional. Business support services | 898 | 12,692 | |
| Retail and food. Catering & events | 771 | 9,999 | |
| Digital and professional. IT support | 737 | 9,898 | |
| Transport and logistics. Motor vehicle repair | 730 | 8,620 | |
| Transport and logistics. Used car dealers | 592 | 6,432 | |
| Building and trades. Plumbers & HVAC | 553 | 6,518 | |
| Retail and food. Pubs & bars | 548 | 6,258 | |
| Building and trades. Electricians | 542 | 6,686 | |
| Retail and food. Wholesale | 501 | 5,535 | |
| Transport and logistics. Taxi & private hire | 389 | 3,993 | |
| People and care. Care services | 368 | 4,580 | |
| Digital and professional. Recruitment | 346 | 3,422 | |
| Digital and professional. Estate agents | 345 | 3,914 | |
| Digital and professional. Accounting | 307 | 3,859 | |
| Building and trades. Landscaping | 273 | 3,372 | |
| People and care. Security services | 240 | 2,366 | |
| People and care. Fitness | 231 | 2,959 | |
| Digital and professional. Legal services | 172 | 1,874 | |
| Digital and professional. Photography | 171 | 2,057 | |
| Transport and logistics. Removals | 156 | 1,639 | |
| People and care. Childcare | 105 | 1,611 | |
| People and care. Veterinary | 37 | 389 | |
| Total of the 39 trades | 43,806 | 504,685 |
Counts are of new company incorporations by SIC code. A company carrying more than one SIC code can appear in more than one trade group, and only companies still on the register at the 1 November 2026 snapshot are counted, so the figure above is a total of the rows rather than a headcount of every company registered.
30 trades growing, 7 shrinking.
The yearly series on every trade page runs back decades, and on it all 39 trades rise. That is mostly an artefact: a company incorporated in 2024 has had two more years to close and drop off the register than one incorporated in 2026. So the ranking below is the like-for-like comparison instead: the first 10 months of 2026 against the same 10 months of 2025. The long-run columns are shown beside it, and they are the ones to distrust.
| Trade | Change | Jan–Oct 2025 | Jan–Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital and professional. Web & software development | Up 84% | 11,095 | 20,360 |
| Retail and food. Online retail | Up 35% | 27,926 | 37,632 |
| Transport and logistics. Taxi & private hire | Up 31% | 2,636 | 3,442 |
| Building and trades. Plumbers & HVAC | Up 28% | 4,437 | 5,677 |
| Digital and professional. Education & training | Up 28% | 7,204 | 9,195 |
| Digital and professional. IT support | Up 22% | 6,912 | 8,435 |
| Digital and professional. Architecture & engineering | Up 18% | 8,480 | 9,979 |
| Digital and professional. Management consultancy | Up 17% | 24,483 | 28,556 |
| Building and trades. Electricians | Up 16% | 5,051 | 5,873 |
| Transport and logistics. Motor vehicle repair | Up 16% | 6,490 | 7,521 |
| Digital and professional. Advertising & design | Up 15% | 9,986 | 11,521 |
| Digital and professional. IT consultancy | Up 14% | 12,573 | 14,316 |
| Transport and logistics. Freight & couriers | Up 13% | 11,552 | 13,044 |
| Building and trades. Construction | Up 12% | 45,259 | 50,901 |
| Retail and food. Takeaways | Up 11% | 14,968 | 16,625 |
| People and care. Childcare | Up 11% | 1,281 | 1,422 |
| Retail and food. Restaurants & cafes | Up 10% | 14,172 | 15,605 |
| Building and trades. Landscaping | Up 10% | 2,773 | 3,044 |
| Digital and professional. Legal services | Up 10% | 1,472 | 1,621 |
| Retail and food. Catering & events | Up 10% | 8,020 | 8,794 |
| Retail and food. Wholesale | Up 10% | 4,323 | 4,741 |
| Transport and logistics. Used car dealers | Up 10% | 5,067 | 5,552 |
| People and care. Cleaning services | Up 9% | 9,373 | 10,250 |
| People and care. Fitness | Up 8% | 2,375 | 2,558 |
| Transport and logistics. Removals | Up 8% | 1,306 | 1,415 |
| Retail and food. Hairdressing & beauty | Up 7% | 10,230 | 10,936 |
| Retail and food. Convenience stores | Up 6% | 9,582 | 10,173 |
| Retail and food. Pubs & bars | Up 6% | 5,147 | 5,463 |
| People and care. Security services | Up 4% | 1,943 | 2,029 |
| Digital and professional. Business support services | Up 2% | 10,651 | 10,819 |
| People and care. Care services | Level | 3,918 | 3,903 |
| People and care. Health practitioners | Level | 15,518 | 15,548 |
| Digital and professional. Estate agents | Down 1% | 3,361 | 3,322 |
| Digital and professional. Recruitment | Down 3% | 3,038 | 2,946 |
| Digital and professional. Photography | Down 5% | 1,832 | 1,743 |
| Digital and professional. Accounting | Down 6% | 3,469 | 3,252 |
| People and care. Veterinary | Down 7% | 352 | 328 |
| Property. Property investment & letting | Down 8% | 56,452 | 51,776 |
| Property. Property management | Down 8% | 17,743 | 16,370 |
30 of the 39 trades registered more companies in the first 10 months of 2026 than in the same months of 2025; 7 registered fewer, and 2 came in level. Web & software development moved most on the way up, at 84% (11,095 to 20,360). Property management moved most on the way down, at 8% (17,743 to 16,370).
Why the 2024 and 2025 columns cannot settle it. The register only holds companies that still exist. Anything formed in an earlier year and since dissolved has dropped off it, so the further back the chart goes the more it undercounts. That alone makes every trade look like it is growing. Some of the rise here is real growth and some of it is simply that recent companies have had less time to close. On those two columns alone every one of the 39 trades looks like it grew, which is exactly the problem. The long view sets the whole series out and shows how far the distortion goes.
The same counts, by town.
Every one of these 39 trades is also counted in 1,076 towns, on 3,241 trade-and-town pages plus a page for each town on its own. Counts are by the post town on the registered office address, except where that office is a formation agent and the company's real town could be established from its directors' other companies.
Browse all 1,076 towns · The long view, year by year · How the counts are made
298,620 new companies, registered March to November 2026. Any month from £15.
298,620 companies registered across the UK in March to November 2026 are in the file, each with its name, number, registered address, directors and trade. Every company registered, with its website, email and phone number where we can find one. Most companies this new have no website yet, so many rows will be the company, its address and its directors.
Bought per trade, or as one file for a family of trades. National, the whole UK; filter by town in the file. Any month from £15. 3p a company, £15 minimum an order. Pick one month, any mix, or everything.
- Construction 42,816 companies £1156.03
- Property investment & letting 41,417 companies £1118.26
- Online retail 33,130 companies £894.51
- Management consultancy 23,346 companies £630.34
- Web & software development 18,602 companies £502.25
- Every trade, with its count and price
Every list shows its count and price before you pay. Pay by card; within a minute an email tells you when your file will arrive.
Not ready to buy? Every one of the 39 trades has a free sample: its 25 newest companies, with each one's registered address and directors, as a CSV. Pick the trade.