Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in North West

Number of companies in region North West is 1,075,148, which is 10.0% of all 10,770,643 companies in UK. North West is ranked 3th among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 30/09/2024.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in North West

The region with the highest number of companies - 509,962 is Greater Manchester. Cumbria has the lowest number of companies - 42,309. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Wholesale, retail - 14.8%, Science - 13.8% and Administrative - 11.4%.

Number of companies by county 1,075,148 companies with data in North West

Greater Manchester
509,962
47.4%
Lancashire
186,013
17.3%
Merseyside
172,829
16.1%
Cheshire
164,035
15.3%
Cumbria
42,309
3.9%

Business activity overview 1,029,503 companies with data in North West

Wholesale, retail
159,608
14.8%
Science
147,976
13.8%
Administrative
122,037
11.4%
Construction
100,716
9.4%
Real Estate
77,954
7.3%
ICT
77,414
7.2%
Accommodation
66,415
6.2%
Service
61,554
5.7%
Health
53,294
5.0%
Transportation
47,475
4.4%
Manufacturing
43,753
4.1%
Financial
29,678
2.8%
Dormant
29,092
2.7%
Arts
26,249
2.4%
Education
22,432
2.1%
Home
12,820
1.2%
Agriculture
5,191
0.5%
Water
3,789
0.4%
Public
2,815
0.3%
Energy
2,430
0.2%
Mining
1,199
0.1%
Extraterritorial
271
0.0%

Industrial classification of companies in North 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 Other business support service - 6.6%, Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate - 4.6% and Management consultancy exl. financial - 4.4%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 1,029,503 companies with data in North West

Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in North West

The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 9,464 in in April 2024. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for March 2021 - 10,182 companies were dissolved.

Incorporation and dissolution of companies by month North West

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Persons with significant control
in companies in North 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 North West

The most popular country, as regards to PSC origin, is China. In September 2024, there were 1,632 companies with at least one PCS from China. Other popular countries are Norway, Pakistan and United States.

Top 10 countries with local PSCs North West

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

The highest proportion of companies with a foreign PSC to be incorporated in one month was in November 2022 - 3.70%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 7.69% was in May 2020. 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 North West