Intelligence · Sector map · October 2026
Retail in the UK
505,867 active companies; 114,028 formed in the last twelve months.
Computed from Lockley's index, updated 20 October 2026.
505,867
Active UK companies
114,028
Formed in the last twelve months
23% of the sector
58,466
With a website we could match
12%
Retail: companies formed each year, still on the register
20,650
2019
24,385
2020
25,650
2021
26,434
2022
38,395
2023
50,629
2024
105,919
2025
92,516
2026
Where they are registered
Post townActive companies
London118,527
Manchester16,154
Birmingham12,421
Cardiff8,722
Glasgow7,601
Leicester5,574
Ilford4,733
Leeds4,344
Liverpool4,257
Nottingham4,036
Registered office, which is not always where a company trades.
Hiring in the last 30 days, manager level and above
FunctionRolesCompanies
Operations1610
Sales109
Marketing33
Finance21
Customer success11
Engineering11
HR11
Procurement11
Jobs data from Adzuna, matched to companies in the index.
Recorded in October 2026 so far
SignalRecordsCompanies
New sites6261
Hiring at manager level and above1915
Public contracts ending22
First hires in a function11
What is counted
Active UK companies whose Companies House SIC codes begin with 47. 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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