Intelligence · Sector map · October 2026
Food and drink manufacturing in the UK
32,305 active companies; 5,100 formed in the last twelve months.
Computed from Lockley's index, updated 20 October 2026.
32,305
Active UK companies
5,100
Formed in the last twelve months
16% of the sector
5,397
With a website we could match
17%
Food and drink manufacturing: companies formed each year, still on the register
1,672
2019
1,882
2020
1,758
2021
1,616
2022
2,251
2023
2,836
2024
4,880
2025
4,171
2026
Where they are registered
Post townActive companies
London6,309
Birmingham622
Manchester596
Glasgow483
Edinburgh380
Cardiff334
Bristol318
Leeds311
Leicester301
Nottingham298
Registered office, which is not always where a company trades.
Hiring in the last 30 days, manager level and above
FunctionRolesCompanies
Marketing95
Operations75
Sales62
HR33
Engineering11
Finance11
Procurement11
Jobs data from Adzuna, matched to companies in the index.
Recorded in October 2026 so far
SignalRecordsCompanies
New sites2221
Hiring at manager level and above159
First hires in a function97
What is counted
Active UK companies whose Companies House SIC codes begin with 10, 11. A company with several codes can appear in more than one sector. Figures are recomputed every night.
SourcesCompanies House (Open Government Licence) · Jobs data from Adzuna · Lockley's index and its sources
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