Intelligence · Sector map · October 2026
Wholesale trade in the UK
212,667 active companies; 37,067 formed in the last twelve months.
Computed from Lockley's index, updated 20 October 2026.
212,667
Active UK companies
37,067
Formed in the last twelve months
17% of the sector
29,808
With a website we could match
14%
Wholesale trade: companies formed each year, still on the register
10,071
2019
10,978
2020
10,208
2021
10,632
2022
15,326
2023
19,390
2024
36,864
2025
29,613
2026
Where they are registered
Post townActive companies
London50,930
Manchester8,465
Birmingham4,659
Cardiff3,847
Leicester2,349
Glasgow2,253
Beckenham1,910
Leeds1,683
Kington1,658
Cambridge1,615
Registered office, which is not always where a company trades.
Hiring in the last 30 days, manager level and above
FunctionRolesCompanies
Sales2719
Operations118
Marketing76
Customer success21
Finance21
HR22
Product22
Engineering11
Procurement11
Jobs data from Adzuna, matched to companies in the index.
Recorded in October 2026 so far
SignalRecordsCompanies
New sites4848
Hiring at manager level and above2718
First hires in a function77
Public contracts ending55
What is counted
Active UK companies whose Companies House SIC codes begin with 46. 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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