Industry Data
UK New Company Registrations by Industry: October 2026 Report
20 October 2026 · 7 min read
New company registrations in the UK are running about 6% below last year. In Company Explore's registration data, 775,985 companies were incorporated in the 12 months to 18 October 2026, against 826,322 in the 12 months before that. That is still more than 2,100 new companies for every day of the year.
The total hides a split. Retail, property and general services are shrinking, while software, data and holding companies are growing at rates you rarely see on the register. Business and domestic software development (SIC 62012) went from 25,370 registrations to 41,401 in a year.
This report covers the 30 days and 12 months to 18 October 2026, by section and by SIC code, and ends with what the numbers mean if you sell to new companies. We refresh it every month, and the same figures update daily on the Leads Dashboard.
New company registrations in the UK: the last 30 days
62,561 companies were incorporated in the 30 days to 18 October 2026. Almost all of them arrived on weekdays: the 20 weekdays in the period averaged about 2,800 registrations each, and the 10 weekend days averaged about 600. Weekends produced 10% of the month's companies.
The weekend average is flattered by a few busy days. Saturday 26 September (944), Sunday 27 September (1,241) and Saturday 3 October (1,256) were well above the usual weekend level, and most other weekend days came in at around 400.
Within the week, Tuesday and Wednesday were busiest, at roughly 3,200 each on average. Friday was the quietest weekday at about 2,200. The single busiest day was Wednesday 30 September, with 3,540 incorporations.
The monthly comparison with last year is a little weaker than the annual one. The four weeks ending 18 October 2026 produced 61,746 incorporations, against 67,634 in the four weeks ending 19 October 2025, a fall of about 9%.
UK new business statistics 2026: the 12-month picture
Over 12 months the fall is 6.1%, or 50,337 fewer companies. Broken down by section of the SIC system, three sections grew strongly and most of the rest shrank:
- Information and communication (J): 97,321 registrations, up 16% from 83,613.
- Financial and insurance (K): 36,857, up 7%, driven largely by holding companies.
- Professional, scientific and technical (M): 110,184, up 3%.
- Wholesale and retail (G): 163,406, down 12% and still the largest section by a distance.
- Real estate (L): 87,023, down 12%.
- Other service activities (S): 39,180, down 16%.
Information and communication now accounts for about one in eight new registrations, up from about one in ten a year ago. A company can list up to four SIC codes, so section totals add up to more than the number of companies.
The busiest industries and SIC codes
Wholesale and retail was the busiest section in the last 30 days, with 13,732 registrations, followed by professional services (8,794) and information and communication (8,482). By individual code, online retail is still comfortably first:
| SIC code | Industry | 30 days | 12 months | Change on previous 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47910 | Online retail | 6,704 | 73,960 | -3% |
| 68209 | Letting own or leased property | 4,557 | 61,623 | -11% |
| 62012 | Business and domestic software development | 4,036 | 41,401 | +63% |
| 70229 | Management consultancy | 3,740 | 47,180 | +12% |
| 68100 | Buying and selling own real estate | 3,031 | 41,477 | -17% |
| 62020 | IT consultancy | 2,370 | 29,944 | +4% |
| 64209 | Other holding companies | 2,166 | 24,434 | +23% |
| 56103 | Takeaways and mobile food stands | 1,763 | 21,677 | -9% |
| 82990 | Other business support services | 1,433 | 20,057 | -7% |
| 85590 | Other education | 1,359 | 15,733 | +19% |
Software development was the third busiest code in the last 30 days, behind only online retail and property letting. In the previous 12-month period it ranked sixth, behind IT consultancy. The two property codes (68209 and 68100) went the other way and lost almost 16,000 registrations between them, so fewer people are setting up companies to hold or trade property.
Biggest risers and fallers by SIC code
To keep small codes from topping the list with a jump from 50 to 120, this table only includes codes with at least 2,000 registrations in the last 12 months. 108 codes pass that test.
| SIC code | Industry | 12 months | Previous 12 months | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58290 | Other software publishing | 8,903 | 4,678 | +90% |
| 62012 | Business and domestic software development | 41,401 | 25,370 | +63% |
| 63120 | Web portals | 8,949 | 5,734 | +56% |
| 72190 | Other natural sciences and engineering R&D | 3,209 | 2,128 | +51% |
| 63110 | Data processing and hosting | 7,341 | 4,964 | +48% |
| 88990 | Other social work without accommodation | 5,350 | 3,756 | +42% |
| 46190 | Agents selling a variety of goods | 4,519 | 7,556 | -40% |
| 47750 | Cosmetics and toiletries retail | 2,733 | 4,054 | -33% |
| 68201 | Renting Housing Association property | 3,556 | 5,193 | -32% |
| 87200 | Residential care for learning difficulties and mental health | 2,089 | 2,953 | -29% |
| 46420 | Wholesale of clothing and footwear | 3,751 | 5,289 | -29% |
| 47990 | Other retail not in stores or markets | 11,746 | 16,240 | -28% |
Software and data codes take four of the top five places. Some of that will be founders choosing a software code for what is really a consultancy or an AI tool built on someone else's model, but the growth is too large and too steady to be a labelling quirk. We look at it in more detail in a separate post on new software companies.
The fallers are mostly small-scale trading: general sales agents, cosmetics shops, clothing wholesale and the catch-all "other retail" code. Two vague codes also fell sharply. 96090 (other service activities) dropped 27% to 14,719, and 99999 (dormant company) fell 20% to 6,347.
In absolute numbers, the biggest gain was 62012 (16,031 more registrations), followed by management consultancy (4,927 more) and holding companies (4,510 more). The biggest losses were 68100 (8,330 fewer) and 68209 (7,362 fewer).
What the numbers mean if you sell to new companies
A smaller register still contains a lot of buyers. Even at the lower 2026 rate, around 2,800 companies are formed on an average weekday. The useful question for a seller is which segments are growing, because a growing segment brings new buyers every week who have not yet chosen their suppliers.
- Software founders: 62012 alone added about 4,000 companies in 30 days. In their first months they need hosting, payments, bookkeeping, contracts and a website.
- Consultants: 70229 grew 12% to 47,180. A new consultancy needs a brand, a proposal template and a way to send invoices before it can win its first client.
- Holding companies: 64209 grew 23%. They rarely buy anything operational, so filter them out of most lists (and 70100 with them).
- Property companies: down, but 68209 and 68100 still produced over 7,500 registrations in 30 days between them (some companies list both). Accountants, mortgage brokers and lettings software still have plenty to work with.
- Retail: online retail fell only 3% and is still the biggest code. Other retail codes are shrinking, so check which code your best customers actually use before you build a list around it.
The day-of-week pattern matters for timing. If you contact companies within days of incorporation, Monday to Wednesday brings the most new names, so a Thursday send covers the bulk of the week. Why new companies are the best leads covers the timing argument in more detail.
How to use this data each month
- Open the Leads Dashboard and set the window to 30 days to see which codes and areas are moving.
- Compare the 12-month view with the 2-year view to separate a steady trend from a one-month spike.
- Pick the two or three codes that match your customers. Our guide to SIC codes explains how to read them.
- Pull the companies in the B2B List Builder, filtered by code, incorporation date and location.
- Add websites, emails and phone numbers with an enriched export, then check each director profile suggestion before you use it.
- Come back next month and see whether your codes are still growing.
Frequently asked questions
How many new companies are registered in the UK each month?
In the 30 days to 18 October 2026, 62,561 companies were incorporated, according to Company Explore's registration data. Over the 12 months to the same date the figure was 775,985, which works out at about 64,700 a month on average.
Are new company registrations in the UK going up or down?
Down. Total incorporations fell about 6% in the 12 months to 18 October 2026 compared with the year before, and the last four weeks were about 9% below the same weeks of 2025. Software, data and holding company registrations grew over the same period.
Which industry has the most new companies in the UK?
Wholesale and retail has the most new registrations by section, and online retail (SIC 47910) is the busiest single code, with 6,704 registrations in the 30 days to 18 October 2026. Software development (62012) is third by code and growing far faster.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure here comes from Company Explore's registration data, which is built from the Companies House register and updated daily. You can see the same counts by industry, county and city on the Leads Dashboard, and find the companies themselves through newly formed UK companies.
To see this month's numbers for your own industry and area, open the Leads Dashboard and pick your SIC codes.
