Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in South West

Number of companies in region South West is 664,077, which is 6.1% of all 10,903,926 companies in UK. South West is ranked 6th among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 30/11/2024.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in South West

The region with the highest number of companies - 120,699 is Dorset. Cornwall has the lowest number of companies - 48,268. 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 664,077 companies with data in South West

Dorset
120,699
18.2%
Gloucestershire
114,658
17.3%
Devon
113,644
17.1%
Somerset
107,803
16.2%
Wiltshire
88,241
13.3%
Bristol
70,764
10.7%
Cornwall
48,268
7.3%

Business activity overview 634,455 companies with data in South West

Science
98,689
14.9%
Wholesale, retail
80,561
12.1%
Construction
69,552
10.5%
ICT
62,601
9.4%
Administrative
58,659
8.8%
Real Estate
47,674
7.2%
Accommodation
39,420
5.9%
Service
32,174
4.8%
Manufacturing
31,684
4.8%
Health
28,537
4.3%
Dormant
22,316
3.4%
Arts
21,788
3.3%
Transportation
19,043
2.9%
Financial
18,677
2.8%
Home
18,485
2.8%
Education
17,669
2.7%
Agriculture
7,422
1.1%
Energy
2,627
0.4%
Water
2,411
0.4%
Public
2,008
0.3%
Mining
875
0.1%
Extraterritorial
126
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 - 4.8% and Other business support service - 4.2%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 634,455 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 4,690 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 November 2024, there were 916 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 October 2021 - 2.90%. 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