There are 8,835,840 companies and businesses in the UK in our data, counted on 22 October 2026. Companies House registers 5,482,171 of them.
List of all companies in the UK
The UK has 8,835,840 registered companies and businesses in our data, counted on 22 October 2026. Companies House holds 5,482,171 of them, the limited companies and PLCs. The rest are sole traders, partnerships, branch locations, overseas companies and public bodies that the register leaves out. Most of them are small: 85% have fewer than five employees. Below you find the largest, the smallest, the newest and the oldest companies in the UK, where they are based and what they do. Want to buy the list of all 8,835,840 UK companies as an API integration or Excel file? Get it from our UK company database.
8,835,840 companies indexed · Data counted on 22 October 2026
Companies8,835,840
Ltd and PLC5,482,171
Regions12
Largest regionLondon 22%
Employees1-4
Revenue$1-100K
Email15%
Phone30%
Website30%
UK company list: all 8,835,840 companies
The list of all companies and businesses in the UK, live and sorted by revenue. Narrow it by region, city, industry, size, revenue, legal form or founding year. The full search is on our UK company directory.
Shell PLCShell PLC
| Company Name | Country | City | Address 1 | State/Province | Postal Code | Website | Founding Year | Yearly Revenue in U.S. Dollars | Employees Total | Business Legal Type - Description | Number of Companies in Group | Company Registration Number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shell PLC | Unitedkingdom | Balham | Shell Centre | London | SE1 7NA | *****.uk | 2002 | $266,886,000,000 | 88,000 | Corporation | 5522 | 04366849 |
| 2 | Uniper Global Commodities SE | Unitedkingdom | Queen'S Park | 42-44 Grosvenor Gardens | London | SW1W 0EB | N/A | 2022 | $251,958,056,339 | 879 | Foreign company | 6001 | FC039625 |
| 3 | Glencore PLC | Unitedkingdom | Saint-hélier | 13 Castle Street | Saint Helier | JE1 1ES | N/A | 1974 | $247,535,000,000 | 140,000 | Corporation | 270 | 107710 |
| 4 | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, National Association | Unitedkingdom | Canary Wharf | 25 Bank Street | London | E14 5JP | *****.com | 1824 | $232,775,000,000 | 821 | Foreign company | 6695 | FC004891 |
| 5 | Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China LIMITED | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 81 King William Street | London | EC4N 7BG | *****.com | 2011 | $213,868,290,743 | 409,758 | Foreign company | 17488 | FC031145 |
| 6 | Bank Of America, National Association | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 2 King Edward Street | London | EC1A 1HQ | *****.com | 1931 | $195,865,000,000 | 213,000 | Foreign company | 4822 | FC002984 |
| 7 | Agricultural Bank Of China LIMITED London Branch | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 7/f 1 Bartholomew Lane | London | EC2N 2AX | *****.com | 2017 | $193,676,531,992 | 457,835 | Foreign company | 23841 | FC034858 |
| 8 | China Construction Bank CORPORATION London Branch | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 111 Old Broad Street | London | EC2N 1AP | *****.com | 2014 | $191,593,731,879 | 378,344 | Foreign company | 30864 | FC032309 |
| 9 | Bank Of China LIMITED | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 1-2 Lothbury | London | EC2R 7DB | *****.com | 1996 | $174,253,831,040 | 19,987 | Foreign company | 30864 | FC002851 |
| 10 | Banco Do Brasil S.A. | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 3rd Floor | London | EC2M 4AG | *****.br | 1808 | $172,814,305,439 | 69 | Foreign company | 5405 | FC006852 |
| 11 | Bnp Paribas | Unitedkingdom | Queen'S Park | 10 Harewood Avenue | London | NW1 6AA | *****.uk | 1970 | $168,493,164,336 | 11,547 | Foreign company | 4912 | FC013447 |
| 12 | Bp P.L.C. | Unitedkingdom | Queen'S Park | 1 St James'S Square | London | SW1Y 4PD | *****.com | 1909 | $158,879,000,000 | 98,200 | Corporation | 5186 | 00102498 |
| 13 | Hsbc Holdings PLC | Unitedkingdom | Canary Wharf | 8 Canada Square | London | E14 5HQ | *****.uk | 1865 | $149,565,000,000 | 218,271 | Corporation | 4773 | 00617987 |
| 14 | Banco Santander, S.A. | Unitedkingdom | Hampstead | 2-3 Regent'S Place | London | NW1 3AN | *****.uk | 1955 | $145,519,247,376 | 198,403 | Foreign company | 9611 | FC004459 |
| 15 | The Shell Company Of Thailand LIMITED | Unitedkingdom | Balham | Shell Centre | London | SE1 7NA | *****.com | 1913 | $143,573,019,801 | 476 | Corporation | 5522 | 00130588 |
| 16 | Trant Holding Company LIMITED | Unitedkingdom | Marchwood | Rushington Business Park | Hampshire | SO40 9LT | *****.uk | 2013 | $128,491,604,403 | 511 | Corporation | 14 | 08821400 |
| 17 | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 33 King William Street | London | EC4R 9AT | *****.com | 1997 | $123,529,000,000 | 205,198 | Foreign company | 8736 | FC026633 |
| 18 | Mitsubishi CORPORATION | Unitedkingdom | City of London | Mid City Place | London | WC1V 6BA | *****.com | 1992 | $118,225,000,000 | 180 | Foreign company | 2425 | FC022100 |
| 19 | Societe Generale | Unitedkingdom | London | One Bank Street | London | E14 4SG | *****.com | 1871 | $114,688,857,616 | 48,130 | Foreign company | 3779 | FC000268 |
| 20 | Credit Agricole S.A. | Unitedkingdom | Shoreditch | 3rd Floor Broadwalk House | London | EC2A 2DA | *****.com | 1984 | $113,995,132,368 | 80,518 | Foreign company | 5532 | FC012270 |
| 21 | Lyceum Solar Finco LIMITED | Unitedkingdom | Monument-aldgate-fenchurch Street-tower Hill | 1 Finsbury Avenue | London | EC2M 2PF | N/A | 2024 | $113,896,509,142 | 86 | Corporation | 121 | 15838356 |
| 22 | Citibank N.A | Unitedkingdom | Canary Wharf | Citigroup Centre | London | E14 5LB | *****.uk#cba | 1902 | $112,709,000,000 | 590 | Foreign company | 7067 | FC001835 |
| 23 | Hd Hyundai Heavy Industries CO., LTD | Unitedkingdom | West Kensington | The Triangle 2nd Floor | London | W6 0LG | *****.kr | 2019 | $112,339,111,165 | 38 | Foreign company | 49 | FC036566 |
| 24 | Amazon EU SARL, UK Branch | Unitedkingdom | City of London | 1 Principal Place | London | EC2A 2FA | *****.uk | 2015 | $106,552,114,215 | 9,822 | Foreign company | 3718 | FC032354 |
| 25 | Tesco PLC | Unitedkingdom | Oaklands | Tesco House Ground Floor | Hertfordshire | AL7 1GA | *****.com | 1919 | $101,587,445,904 | 336,123 | Corporation | 5042 | 00445790 |
Showing 25 of 8,835,840 companies
Request Free SampleHow many companies are there in the UK?
Companies and businesses in the UK
8,835,840
22 October 2026
There are 8,835,840 companies and businesses in the UK in our data (22 October 2026). Companies House registers 5,482,171 limited companies and PLCs; we add 606,524 sole traders, 256,009 partnerships, 14,795 overseas companies with a UK establishment and 2,472,949 locations and bodies without a company number: branches, NHS organisations, councils, schools and charities.
Structure
- Single-site businesses
- 8,228,232 93%
- Head offices
- 295,921
- Branch locations
- 311,687
Not trading
- Dormant companies SIC 99999
- 106,056
- Non-trading companies SIC 74990
- 39,779
Per working day this year
≈ 2,533
new companies registered · 534,395 so far in 2026
See how our file compares with the Companies House download, pull these counts yourself with the Companies House API, or read how to search the UK company register.
Largest companies in the UK
Which are the largest companies in the UK? That depends on what you measure. By number of employees the biggest private-sector employer is Tesco Stores, with 249,663 staff; the NHS is bigger, but its trusts are separate organisations. By yearly revenue the largest company is Shell, ahead of Glencore and BP. Below are the top companies of the UK ranked four ways: by number of employees, by yearly revenue, the largest public-sector employers and the biggest foreign companies in the UK. 298 UK companies employ more than 10,000 people and 2,504 report more than $1 billion a year.
Tesco Stores is the biggest private-sector employer in the UK. 298 UK companies employ more than 10,000 people, 10,527 more than 500.
- 1249,663 staff
- 2131,027 staff
- 3130,800 staff
- 4126,811 staff
- 566,323 staff
- 667,478 staff
- 751,292 staff
- 850,802 staff
- 953,415 staff
- 1044,900 staff
Shell is the largest company in the UK by revenue; 2,504 UK companies report more than $1 billion a year. Limited companies and PLCs only.
- 1$266.9B
- 2$247.5B
- 3$158.9B
- 4$149.6B
- 5$101.6B
- 6$86.0B
- 7$72.2B
- 8$58.7B
- 9$58.5B
- 10$57.6B
The NHS is the UK's largest employer overall, but its boards and trusts appear in our data as separate organisations, so the largest single public body here is Lancashire County Council with 171,317 staff. These bodies have no company number.
- 1171,317 staff
- 2170,000 staff
- 3137,000 staff
- 4110,000 staff
- 547,319 staff
- 639,184 staff
14,795 overseas companies run a UK establishment registered at Companies House with an FC number. The largest are banks.
- 1457,835 worldwide
- 2409,758 worldwide
- 3378,344 worldwide
- 4218,000 worldwide
- 5205,198 worldwide
- 6186,000 worldwide
- 7158,473 worldwide
- 8145,412 worldwide
Headcount and revenue are those of the worldwide company, not of the branch in the UK.
By employee size · 7,015,377 companies with a known headcount
| Employees | Share | Companies | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | 5,939,841 | 85% | |
| 5-9 | 560,549 | 8% | |
| 10-19 | 252,717 | 4% | |
| 20-49 | 161,539 | 2% | |
| 50-99 | 50,724 | 0.7% | |
| 100-199 | 25,053 | 0.4% | |
| 200-499 | 14,427 | 0.2% | |
| 500+ | 10,527 | 0.2% |
85% have 1 to 4 employees; 10,527 have 500 or more.
By yearly revenue (USD)
| Revenue | Share | Companies | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| < $100K | 3,599,020 | 52% | |
| $100K-$500K | 2,425,045 | 35% | |
| $500K-$1M | 374,630 | 5% | |
| $1M-$5M | 331,875 | 5% | |
| $5M-$10M | 53,835 | 0.8% | |
| $10M-$100M | 81,237 | 1% | |
| $100M-$1B | 14,452 | 0.2% | |
| $1B+ | 2,504 | <0.1% |
16,956 companies report more than $100 million; 2,504 more than $1 billion.
Small businesses in the UK
Most companies in the UK are small businesses. Of the 7,015,377 with a known headcount, 6,500,390 (93%) are micro businesses with fewer than ten employees, 414,256 are small (10 to 49) and 90,204 medium-sized (50 to 499). Only 10,527 employ 500 people or more, so 99.85% of UK companies are SMEs. Our data starts where the register stops: sole traders, micro companies and single shops that Companies House does not hold.
| Size class | Share | Companies | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro · fewer than 10 | 6,500,390 | 93% | |
| Small · 10 to 49 | 414,256 | 6% | |
| Medium · 50 to 499 | 90,204 | 1% | |
| Large · 500 or more | 10,527 | 0.2% |
5,939,841
companies have 1 to 4 employees (85%). 3,599,020 turn over less than $100,000 a year.
606,524
sole traders are in the data. Companies House does not register them.
91%
of the 534,395 companies started in 2026 have 1 to 4 employees (448,025). Only 34 started with 200 staff or more.
Where are companies in the UK based?
England holds 7,596,282 of the 8,835,840 UK companies (86%). London alone has 1,945,804, more than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together. Below you find the four nations, the twelve regions and the ten busiest counties, each with a link to its own list of local companies.
England7,596,28286% of UK companies
Scotland584,0157% of UK companies
Wales345,0884% of UK companies
Northern Ireland196,0932% of UK companiestwelve regions
| Region | Share | Companies | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1,945,804 | 22% | |
| South East | 1,188,541 | 13% | |
| North West | 891,057 | 10% | |
| East of England | 825,018 | 9% | |
| West Midlands | 694,285 | 8% | |
| South West | 693,104 | 8% | |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 591,945 | 7% | |
| Scotland | 584,015 | 7% | |
| East Midlands | 524,926 | 6% | |
| Wales | 345,088 | 4% | |
| North East | 241,602 | 3% | |
| Northern Ireland | 196,093 | 2% |
Ten busiest counties
- Kent201,731
- Essex199,752
- Hertfordshire181,155
- Surrey169,711
- Hampshire164,385
- Lancashire144,432
- West Sussex108,442
- Suffolk105,751
- Devon105,005
- Norfolk98,769
Looking for one place? Our city and county pages hold the local lists: London, Kent and 136 more in the index below.
Main industries in the UK
Wholesale and retail is the biggest sector in the UK by number of companies: 953,166, or 14% of all firms with an industry code. Next come professional, scientific and technical (792,547) and construction (668,898). UK companies are classified by their UK SIC 2007 code, from Companies House; 6,878,429 have one in our data. Below you find the main sectors, the largest industries with their biggest companies and our 198 industry lists for the UK.
- Wholesale and retail953,16614%
- Professional, scientific and technical792,54712%
- Construction668,89810%
- Real estate636,9019%
- Accommodation and food497,6827%
- Information and communication492,1967%
- Other services456,9577%
- Administrative and support456,4137%
- Health and social work343,1315%
- Manufacturing287,0034%
- Finance and insurance261,0194%
- Transport and storage210,3583%
- Education209,5103%
- Arts and recreation208,8303%
- Households as employers135,1272%
- Extraterritorial organisations106,7832%
- Agriculture83,3751%
- Public administration26,7800.4%
- Water and waste24,1490.4%
- Energy18,1950.3%
- Mining9,4090.1%
Dormant and non-trading codes are counted separately (see How many). Sole traders and branches without a code are not in this chart. Click a section for its industry pages.
Largest industries in the UK
636,901
UK SIC 68: Real estate activities
- 111,294 staff
- 25,424 staff
- 35,015 staff
410,482
UK SIC 56: Food and beverage service activities
- 150,802 staff
- 242,081 staff
- 335,186 staff
384,402
UK SIC 43: Specialised construction activities
- 111,776 staff
- 27,071 staff
- 33,088 staff
305,130
UK SIC 62: Computer programming, consultancy and related activities
- 121,620 staff
- 214,050 staff
- 310,350 staff
296,255
Head offices and management consultancy
UK SIC 70: Activities of head offices and management consultancy
- 125,861 staff
- 225,581 staff
- 322,115 staff
250,099
UK SIC 41: Construction of residential and non-residential buildings
- 16,511 staff
- 26,500 staff
- 36,294 staff
248,238
UK SIC 86: Human health activities
- 119,557 staff
- 217,074 staff
- 310,489 staff
Discover more: all UK industries, manufacturers, cities and counties
Every UK list we publish. Industries are grouped by UK SIC section.
A · Agriculture
B · Mining
C · Manufacturing
- Bakeries
- Beverages companies
- Breweries
- Candy companies
- Cheese companies
- Chemical companies
- Clothing companies
- Cosmetics companies
- Electronics companies
- Fashion companies
- Food companies
- Furniture makers
- Glass companies
- Leather companies
- Manufacturing companies
- Meat companies
- Medical device companies
- Office furniture companies
- Optical manufacturers
- Packaging companies
- Paper companies
- Perfume and cosmetics companies
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Printing companies
- Refrigeration companies
- Rubber companies
- Shipbuilders
- Steel companies
- Tobacco companies
- Tools companies
- Toy companies
- Window manufacturers
- Wine companies
D · Energy
E · Water and waste
F · Construction
G · Wholesale and retail
- Antiquairs
- Auto body shops
- Automotive
- Bathroom equipment sales
- Bicycle repair shops
- Bookstores
- Butchers
- Car dealers
- Car parts companies
- Clothing stores
- Distribution companies
- Ecommerce companies
- Fish shops
- Florists
- FMCG companies
- Food distribution companies
- Greengrocer shops
- Import export companies
- Jewelers
- Liquor stores
- Opticians
- Perfume shops
- Pharmacy companies
- Retail companies
- Shoe companies
- Sportswear companies
- Tea companies
- Tobacco shops
- Towing services companies
- Toy shops
- Two wheeler repair shops
- Tyre companies
- Wholesale companies
- Wine bars
- Workwear companies
H · Transport and storage
I · Accommodation and food
J · Information and communication
K · Finance and insurance
L · Real estate
M · Professional, scientific and technical
N · Administrative and support
O · Public administration
Q · Health and social work
R · Arts and recreation
S · Other services
More industries
Food and drink
Textiles, clothing and leather
Wood, paper and printing
Chemicals, pharma and plastics
Minerals and metals
Electronics and machinery
Vehicles and transport equipment
England · counties
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Hampshire
- Hertfordshire
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Merseyside
- Norfolk
- North Yorkshire
- Northamptonshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- South Yorkshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
Northern Ireland
England · cities and towns
- AI Companies UK
- Barnsley
- Basildon
- Basingstoke
- Bath
- Bedford
- Birkenhead
- Birmingham
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Bournemouth
- Bradford
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Cambridge
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Chester
- Chesterfield
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Crawley
- Darlington
- Derby
- Doncaster
- Eastbourne
- Exeter
- Fintech Companies UK
- Gateshead
- Gillingham
- Gloucester
- Grimsby
- Halifax
- Hartlepool
- Hastings
- Hemel Hempstead
- High Wycombe
- Huddersfield
- Ipswich
- Kingston upon Hull
- Leicester
- Lincoln
- Liverpool
- London
- Luton
- Maidstone
- Manchester
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Northampton
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Nuneaton
- Oldham
- Oxford
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Preston
- Rayleigh
- Reading
- Rochdale
- Rotherham
- Sale
- Salford
- Sheffield
- Slough
- Solihull
- Southampton
- Southend-on-Sea
- Southport
- St Helens
- Stevenage
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Sunderland
- Sutton Coldfield
- Swindon
- Telford
- Wakefield
- Warrington
- Watford
- Weston-super-Mare
- Wigan
- Woking
- Wolverhampton
- Worcester
- Worthing
- York
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Greenland
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Ivory Coast
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- UAE
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- USA
- Uzbekistan
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
New companies and startups in the UK in 2026
534,395 new companies and startups registered in the UK so far in 2026, about 2,533 every working day, after a record 835,178 new businesses in 2025. Most startups begin small: 91% of this year's newcomers have one to four employees. 489,878 of them are limited companies.
≈ 2,533
new companies register every working day in 2026
91%
of this year's startups begin with one to four employees
835,178
new companies in 2025, a record year
Companies founded per year
- 409,2822022
- 518,2502023
- 603,8602024
- 835,1782025
- 534,3952026 so far
The biggest newcomers of 2026
A new company number is often a restructuring, not a start-up: the largest newcomers are new holding and property companies for existing businesses.
- 13,400 staff
- 2920 staff
- 3786 staff
- 4722 staff
- 5612 staff
Oldest companies in the UK
The oldest company in the UK that still trades is International Distribution Services (Royal Mail), founded in 1516. Older still is the University of Oxford, from 1096, the oldest organisation in our data that is still active. In total our data holds 99 UK organisations founded before 1700, 504 before 1800, 7,981 before 1900 and 47,372 before 1950.
Oldest organisations still active
- 109620,028 staff
- 1136228 staff
- 11893,200 staff
- 120920,129 staff
- 1422160 staff
- 15571,876 staff
Oldest large trading companies
- 1516$18.4B
- 1715$14.6B
- 1742$4.0B
- 1744$176.2M
- 1757$447.9M
- 1757$210.3M
The founding year is the year a business traces itself to, as recorded in the register and company filings, not the incorporation date of the current legal entity. Trading companies listed here report $100 million or more a year.
Older than you
Move the slider to a year. Two live counts from the founding year in our data.
456,943
UK companies were founded before 1990
33,343
were founded in 1990
8,067,146 UK companies, 95% of those with a founding year on record, were founded in 1990 or later. 456,943 are older.
Types of companies in the UK
Three in five UK businesses in our data are limited companies (Ltd) or PLCs, the companies Companies House registers. One in fifteen is a sole trader and 3% are partnerships or LLPs. Three in ten are locations or public bodies without their own company number.
- Limited companies and PLCs5,482,17162%
- No legal form on record2,472,94928%
- Sole traders606,5247%
- Partnerships and LLPs256,0093%
- Overseas companies14,7950.2%
- Non-profit companies2,065<0.1%
- Cooperatives290<0.1%
- Government bodies845<0.1%
- Joint ventures192<0.1%
Which UK companies are part of a group?
Most UK companies stand alone: 93% are single-site businesses. The other 607,608 are part of a multi-site structure, as one of 295,921 head offices or 311,687 branches. The largest corporate family on this page is Shell, with 5,522 companies in its group.
The largest corporate families on this page
- 15,522 companies
- 25,186 companies
- 35,042 companies
- 44,773 companies
- 54,550 companies
- 64,020 companies
- 73,718 companies
- 83,349 companies
Counted from the largest companies on this page, not from all 8,835,840; the API has no group-size filter.
What you can reach: contact data on UK companies
2,686,040 UK companies have a website on record (30%), 2,670,702 a phone number (30%) and 1,318,311 an email address (15%). Among limited companies: 23% have a website and 12% an email address.
| Field | Share | Companies | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website | 2,686,040 | 30% | |
| Phone | 2,670,702 | 30% | |
| 1,318,311 | 15% |
Questions about companies in the UK
Every answer is counted from the data on this page (22 October 2026).
8,835,840. That includes 606,524 sole traders, 256,009 partnerships and 2,472,949 locations and public bodies that Companies House does not register.
5,482,171 limited companies and PLCs, 62% of all UK businesses in our data (22 October 2026).
Of the 7,015,377 UK companies with a known headcount, 7,004,850 have fewer than 500 employees: 6,500,390 micro, 414,256 small and 90,204 medium-sized. 10,527 are large enterprises.
Shell, with $266.9 billion in yearly revenue, ahead of Glencore ($247.5B) and BP ($158.9B).
The NHS, whose boards and trusts appear as separate organisations in our data. The largest private-sector employer is Tesco Stores with 249,663 staff.
Among large trading companies, International Distribution Services (Royal Mail), founded in 1516. The oldest organisation still active is University of Oxford, 1096.
1,945,804, 22% of all UK companies (22 October 2026).
534,395 so far in 2026, about 2,533 per working day, after a record 835,178 in 2025.
Companies House registers limited companies, PLCs, LLPs and overseas establishments. We add sole traders, partnerships, branch locations and public bodies such as NHS trusts, councils and schools: 3,353,669 more records.
2,686,040, 30% of all UK companies. 2,670,702 have a phone number and 1,318,311 an email address.
Yes. The full list of 8,835,840 companies is available as Excel, CSV or through the API from our UK company database.
Get the full list
All 8,835,840 companies in the UK with address, UK SIC code, legal form, employees, revenue, founding year, website, phone and email where we hold them. Excel, CSV or API. The product details are in our UK company database.
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