The latest official figures on UK business in one place: how many businesses there are, how many are starting, how many are closing and which industries are growing.
How many UK businesses there are
5.59 million
private sector businesses
Start of 2026
74%
have no employees
4,115,175 businesses
17.0 million
people work in small and medium firms
60% of private sector jobs
£2.78 trillion
turnover of small and medium firms
50% of the total
The count is 104,000 lower than at the start of 2025, a fall of 1.8%. The official release says this is inside its margin of error, so it cannot say for certain that the number of businesses fell. The likely range is 5,478,000 to 5,695,000.
Businesses by number of employees
Where they are
London and the South East are part of the England figure. Construction has more small and medium firms than any other industry: 846,000, or 15%.
Source: Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2026, published 5 November 2026. Read by Whito 13 November 2026. Updated once a year.
The company register
5,485,994
companies on the UK register
30 September 2026
193,789
new companies formed
July to September 2026
214,754
companies dissolved
July to September 2026
-30,383
change in the register
Down 0.6% in three months
New companies and dissolutions, same three months a year apart
Company formations were 10.3% lower than in the same three months of 2025, and dissolutions were 8.4% lower (Whito calculation from the two official releases). Companies House notes that its fees rose on 1 February 2026 and that identity checks became a legal requirement from 18 November 2025.
| Part of the UK | Companies, end of September 2026 | Added | Removed | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 5,119,154 | 183,389 | 211,982 | -28,593 |
| Scotland | 277,683 | 10,064 | 10,858 | -794 |
| Northern Ireland | 89,157 | 2,340 | 3,336 | -996 |
A company on the register is not always trading. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are not on it at all. That is why this number and the business population above do not match.
Sources: Companies House, Incorporated companies in the UK, July to September 2026, published 29 October 2026, and the July to September 2025 release. Read by Whito 13 November 2026. Updated every three months. Next release: 28 January 2027.
What Whito found by reading the register itself. On 1 November 2026, 29,960 active UK companies had a Companies House default address as their registered office, and 25,084 of them (84%) already had a proposal to strike off. Read the UK Company Register Monitor. Updated monthly.
Businesses starting and closing
69,895
businesses created
July to September 2026, down 3.5% on a year earlier
63,035
businesses closed
July to September 2026, down 1.1% on a year earlier
6,860
more created than closed
Whito calculation
Fewer businesses started in 11 of the 16 main industry groups. The biggest falls were in health and social care (down 26.4%) and in accommodation and food (down 16.2%). The biggest fall in closures was in business administration and support (down 16.7%).
These figures count businesses registered for VAT or PAYE. They are a different count from new companies above, so the two will not match. The Office for National Statistics labels them official statistics in development, which means the method is still being tested.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Business demography, quarterly, UK: July to September 2026, released 29 October 2026. Read by Whito 13 November 2026. Updated every three months. Next release date not yet announced.
Company insolvencies
1,882
company insolvencies in England and Wales
September 2026, seasonally adjusted
5% lower
than September 2025
1,973 a year earlier
49.9
insolvencies for every 10,000 companies
12 months to September 2026, down from 52.8
1,420
were creditors' voluntary liquidations
The most common type
England and Wales, month by month
Industries with the most insolvencies, October 2025 to September 2026
An insolvency here means a company that could not pay its debts and entered a formal process such as liquidation or administration. In September 2026 Scotland had 117 company insolvencies and Northern Ireland had 45. Those two figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Source: Insolvency Service, Company insolvency statistics, September 2026, published 20 October 2026. Read by Whito 13 November 2026. Updated monthly. Next release: 17 November 2026.
Ten UK industries compared
The number of businesses in each industry in March 2026, and the change since 2021. Choose an industry to open its Whito hub, with rules, research, costs and open public contracts.
| Industry | Businesses, March 2026 | Change since 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic building | 59,685 | +14.0% |
| Electrical installation | 51,010 | +7.2% |
| Plumbing, heating and air-con | 47,910 | +17.8% |
| Accounting and auditing | 31,505 | -7.0% |
| Estate and letting agencies | 26,210 | +18.4% |
| Employment placement agencies | 16,745 | +1.9% |
| Building cleaning | 16,420 | +30.9% |
| Dental practices | 14,710 | +21.2% |
| Solicitor firms | 13,185 | -0.5% |
| Roofing | 12,895 | +28.8% |
Source: Office for National Statistics, UK Business Counts 2026, counted by Whito for UK trade businesses in 2026. Read 5 November 2026. Updated once a year.
When each figure is updated
| Figure | Who publishes it | How often | Latest | Next due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business population | UK government | Yearly | 5 November 2026 | Autumn 2027, date not announced |
| Company register | Companies House | Every three months | 29 October 2026 | 28 January 2027 |
| Starts and closures | Office for National Statistics | Every three months | 29 October 2026 | Not announced |
| Company insolvencies | Insolvency Service | Monthly | 20 October 2026 | 17 November 2026 |
| Industry business counts | Office for National Statistics | Yearly | March 2026 count | Autumn 2027, date not announced |
| Register Monitor | Whito, from the Companies House file | Monthly | 1 November 2026 file | 6 December 2026 |
What is not on Pulse yet
Whito does not yet publish a regular trend for website quality or for how often AI tools recommend UK businesses. Those need the same test repeated on the same sample, and we will not show a trend until we have one. The one-off studies are here: the Whito Truth Index and the UK AI Business Recommendation Index pilot.
Use the numbers
Questions people ask
How many businesses are there in the UK?
The official estimate is 5.59 million private sector businesses at the start of 2026 (5,586,835). About 74% have no employees other than the owner. Source: Business population estimates 2026, published 5 November 2026.
How many companies are on the UK register?
Companies House counted 5,485,994 companies on the register at the end of September 2026. That is companies only. It does not count sole traders or ordinary partnerships.
How many new companies are formed in the UK?
193,789 companies were incorporated in the UK between July and September 2026, according to Companies House. In the same three months of 2025 the figure was 215,982.
How many UK companies go insolvent each month?
In September 2026 there were 1,882 company insolvencies in England and Wales, after seasonal adjustment. Scotland had 117 and Northern Ireland had 45. Source: Insolvency Service, published 20 October 2026.
Is Whito Pulse live data?
No. Every figure is the latest one published by an official body on the day shown beside it. Each section says when the figure was published, when Whito read it and when the next one is due.