Last Updated on October 1, 2026
The two UK Mintel reports we opened covered consumer behaviour and a retail market. Before paying for one, check what the report covers against your question, and whether a library near you already holds it.
One UK Mintel report cost £2,195 before tax on 1 October 2026, and Bristol Central Library let you read Mintel’s beauty and personal care, drink, food, foodservice and leisure research for nothing, on site, with no download. Both UK reports we opened in the Mintel Store carried the same £2,195 price.
The quick verdict
You need consumer attitudes for one market, once: look for free library access first. If your market is covered and you can work on the library’s computers, it costs nothing.
You need the report on your own machine and shared with your team: £2,195 buys an instant PDF and portal access to one report. Mintel’s pricing page says “Save more with bundles” without a price, and its on-demand subscription is on enquiry.
You need one UK industry’s size and structure: an IBISWorld single UK report was £1,000 the same morning, before any VAT, which its page did not state. See our IBISWorld page before you choose.
You need data on the businesses in a UK sector: names, register checks, prices, with every row. That is a Whito Data file at £1,280 once, no VAT added. It holds no consumer survey data.
What Mintel cost on 1 October 2026
| Option | Price shown | What the store says it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Mintel Spotlight | Free | Articles, monthly newsletter, free downloads |
| UK Homewares Retailing Market Report 2026 | £2,195 excl. tax | Instant PDF download, portal access included |
| UK Financial Education Consumer Report 2026 | £2,195 excl. tax | Not recorded |
| Report bundles | Not shown | “Save more with bundles” |
| On-Demand Subscription | Get in touch | Unlimited access to all reports within your chosen market |
Mintel against the other paid routes
| Route | Entry price | What that buys | Tax as shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBISWorld single UK industry report | £1,000 | One report as a PDF, 30+ pages | VAT treatment not stated on the page |
| Whito Data file | £1,280 | One UK file: PDF plus the raw CSV it is built from | Total payable. No VAT added |
| Statista Starter, one year | £1,908 | One seat, premium statistics, XLS and PPT downloads | Excludes sales tax. Annual contract |
| Mintel single UK report | £2,195 | One report, PDF download plus portal access | Excludes tax |
Of the three one-off purchases, a Mintel report was the dearest before tax. The routes answer different questions, so compare on the question first and the price second.
The trap in the Mintel price
The price is per report
If your question needs three report titles and each is £2,195, that is £6,585 before tax. Read the contents list of each report on its store page before you buy the second.
Prices exclude tax
The store shows prices excluding tax. A VAT-registered business can usually reclaim VAT. A business that is not registered pays the full amount on top.
Library access comes with limits
Free access comes with conditions. In Bristol, Mintel is available only on the library’s computers at Central Library, only in five areas (beauty and personal care, drink, food, foodservice and leisure), and you cannot print or download from it. If your question sits outside those areas, the free route does not help there.
The free routes, and where they stop
ONS. UK Business: Activity, Size and Location counts UK enterprises registered for VAT or PAYE by industry, region, legal structure and employment size. The 2026 edition came out on 24 September 2026. It gives counts.
The government’s Business Population Estimates. These estimate the total number of private sector businesses in the UK, with employment and turnover. On 1 October 2026 the newest edition listed was the 2025 one, published 2 October 2025 and listed as an official statistic in development. Check its reference date before you quote it.
Companies House search. Free to search for registered company information, including registered office address, filing history, accounts and officers. Companies House says it does not check the accuracy of the information filed, so treat it as a record of filings.
The British Library Business & IP Centre. Its market information page lists Mintel, IBISWorld, Statista, eMarketer, Frost & Sullivan and Passport (Euromonitor) among the databases it gives free access to. Access may be on site only. The centre in Bristol, for example, offers Mintel only on its own computers at Central Library, across five areas (beauty and personal care, drink, food, foodservice and leisure), and you cannot print or download from it. Ask your nearest centre what it holds before you travel.
Whito’s free studies. Each Whito Data file sits behind a free study you can read in full, with the method and the limits, before you spend anything. Our UK business statistics page pulls the official counts into one place with a source on each figure.
Where a Whito Data file fits, and where it does not
A Whito Data file is the working behind one of our free studies. You read the finding first, for nothing. The file is every row underneath it: each business an AI engine named, its Companies House or regulator outcome, the collection date, or for our cost work the published price and its source.
It fits if you sell to, insure, franchise, fund or represent businesses in one UK sector and need names and rows you can sort, filter and join to your own data. Eight files are on sale at £1,280 each, emailed within one working day. Other sectors are built to order: we reply in writing with a fixed scope and price, and there is nothing to pay until you order.
It does not fit if you need consumer survey data, global market sizes, forecasts, or coverage outside the UK. A Whito file holds none of those. Each file covers one scope, so check the list on the page before you buy.
Licence terms, from the page: one company, shared internally as widely as you like, not for resale or republication. The page’s refund promise: if the report is not what the page says it is, tell us and we refund you. The free electricians sample is one complete town from a real report.
A Mintel report and a Whito file, side by side
| Mintel single UK report | Whito Data file | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,195 before tax | £1,280 once, total payable |
| Built on | Market and consumer analysis (the two reports we opened) | Register checks, logged AI answers or published prices for one UK scope |
| What arrives | PDF download and portal access | One PDF and the raw CSV it is built from, by email within one working day |
Comparing other research providers: see Statista alternatives and IBISWorld alternatives.
The takeaway: ask your nearest Business & IP Centre what it holds before you pay £2,195. If your question is about the businesses in a sector, check the cheaper routes first.
Questions
How much is a Mintel report in the UK?
On 1 October 2026 the two UK reports we opened in the Mintel Store, UK Homewares Retailing Market Report 2026 and UK Financial Education Consumer Report 2026, were each £2,195 excluding tax. Mintel lists bundles and an on-demand subscription without prices.
Can I read Mintel reports for free in the UK?
Some, at a library. The British Library Business & IP Centre lists Mintel among its free databases. Bristol’s centre offers Mintel only on its computers at Central Library, in five areas (beauty and personal care, drink, food, foodservice and leisure), with no printing or downloading.
What is cheaper than Mintel for UK market research?
For industry size and structure, an IBISWorld single UK report was £1,000 on 1 October 2026 (VAT not stated). For official counts, ONS and the Business Population Estimates are free. For data on the businesses in one UK sector, a Whito Data file is £1,280 once. None of these is consumer research.
Does Whito sell consumer research?
No. Whito Data files hold register checks, logged AI answers and published prices for UK businesses, with every row as a CSV. They hold no consumer survey data.
