Sector
Wholesale & retail
753,756 UK companies classified under wholesale & retail. Public register information only.
Sector insights
Wholesale & retail in the United Kingdom
Counts over the Companies House register as loaded on 2026-09-14. Dissolved companies are excluded. No financial figures are involved.
753,756Companies on the register
14%of UK companies5,503,259 across all sectors
4 yearsMedian company age6 years across all sectors
1.9%In insolvency proceedings1.9% across all sectors
New companies per year
How old they are
Wholesale & retail
All sectors
- Under 3 years 42%
- 3 to 9 years 34%
- 10 to 19 years 14%
- 20 years or more 9.5%
9.7% carry a proposal to strike off (7.3% across all sectors). That is mostly dormant companies being removed, so it is not counted as insolvency.
What they do
- Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet SIC 47910164,29522%
- Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles SIC 4520052,6407.0%
- Sale of used cars and light motor vehicles SIC 4511237,9135.0%
- Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets SIC 4799036,7464.9%
- Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating SIC 4711036,6284.9%
- Non-specialised wholesale trade SIC 4690034,2294.5%
- Other retail sale in non-specialised stores SIC 4719033,4954.4%
- Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores SIC 4771024,7043.3%
- Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods SIC 4619018,4142.4%
- Wholesale of clothing and footwear SIC 4642013,0531.7%
- Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (not commercial art galleries and opticians) SIC 4778911,2501.5%
- Agents involved in the sale of textiles, clothing, fur, footwear and leather goods SIC 461609,0521.2%
Where they are registered
- 156,72321%
- 22,7803.0%
- 18,4242.4%
- 11,4541.5%
- 10,4421.4%
- 8,6181.1%
- 6,7770.9%
- 6,3270.8%
- 6,2670.8%
- 6,0430.8%
Legal forms
- Private Limited Company749,55199%
- PRI/LTD BY GUAR/NSC (Private, limited by guarantee, no share capital)2,0650.3%
- Community Interest Company1,4670.2%
- PRI/LBG/NSC (Private, Limited by guarantee, no share capital, use of 'Limited' exemption)265<0.1%
- Public Limited Company202<0.1%
- Private Unlimited Company200<0.1%
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Companies
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