SIC 84 companies in the UK: fire safety, compliance and defence firms in numbers (October 2026)
Part of section O: Public administration and defence.
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | SIC 84 | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 8,900 | 5,166,057 | 0.2% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 3.6 | 5.6 | 36% lower |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 43.4% | 34.0% | 9.4 pts higher |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 34.0% | 32.4% | close to UK |
| Filing dormant accounts | 10.5% | 10.8% | close to UK |
| Accounts overdue | 1.6% | 1.8% | 0.2 pts lower |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 10.3% | 7.4% | 2.9 pts higher |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 1.1% | 2.0% | 0.9 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 3.4% | 12.1% | 8.7 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £1,655 | £3,113 | 47% lower |
| Negative net assets | 14.1% | 18.8% | 4.7 pts lower |
| Net current liabilities | 27.5% | 36.2% | 8.7 pts lower |
| Median cash at bank | £5,890 | £10k | 42% lower |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 41.6% | 35.3% | 6.3 pts higher |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 15.3% | 20.3% | 5.0 pts lower |
| Median employees (where stated) | 1 | 1 | close to UK |
Balance sheet measures use each active company's most recent machine-readable (iXBRL) accounts with a period ending in 2024 or later: 5,979 companies here (67.2% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £19k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £223 to £40k.
What the numbers say
Few people searching for public administration companies expect what SIC division 84 actually contains. Government departments, councils and the armed forces are mostly not registered companies, so the 8,900 active companies here are private businesses and not-for-profits that chose a public sector code, usually because their work serves or mirrors a public function.
The codes hint at what they do. 84120, regulation of health care, education, cultural and other social services, has 5,034 live companies and probably attracts compliance consultants and quality advisers working with schools and care providers. 84250 fire service activities has 1,880, a natural home for fire risk assessors and fire safety firms. Smaller groups include 1,095 in general public administration, 830 in public order and safety, 463 in defence, 423 in business regulation, 214 in justice and judicial activities and 82 in foreign affairs, where defence consultants, enforcement agents and visa or document services are plausible occupants.
Growth is recent. Only 68 of today's active companies date from 2010 and 146 from 2016, but 556 come from 2020, 974 from 2023, 980 from 2024 and 1,509 from 2025, and 1,144 had been incorporated in 2026 by October. 28.7% have not yet filed accounts, against 26% for the UK.
The balance sheets are those of small advisory businesses with few liabilities. Median creditors due within a year are just £4,783, about a third of the UK median, so even with median cash of only £5,890 the companies are fairly liquid: cash covers short-term creditors at 41.6% of them (UK 35.3%) and the median current ratio is 1.4. Only 27.5% show net current liabilities, against 36.2% nationally.
Formal insolvency is rare, at 1.1%, and 1.6% are overdue with accounts, slightly better than the UK's 1.8%. Negative net assets have stayed consistently below the national rate, and by a similar margin at both ends of the series: 12% for financial years ending in 2014 against 16.4% for the UK, and 14.2% in 2025 against 18.6%.
The divisions that many 84120 companies work alongside, education and human health, give useful context, as does the public administration section. Before paying a firm that offers fire safety or compliance services, follow our guide to checking a supplier.
Share with negative net assets, 2014 to 2025
Share of accounts with net liabilities (total liabilities larger than total assets) by financial year end, for companies on the live register. Dissolved companies are not included because the register no longer lists their industry, so earlier years show survivors. Negative net assets is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency: see what negative net assets means.
Accounts types filed
| Type of last accounts | Share here | Share UK |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 34.0% | 32.4% |
| No accounts filed yet | 28.7% | 26.0% |
| Total exemption full | 21.3% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 10.5% | 10.8% |
| Unaudited abridged | 2.6% | 2.9% |
| Full (audited) | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| Small | 1.1% | 1.2% |
The type shows how much a company has to disclose. Micro-entity and abridged accounts contain no profit and loss account on the public record. Read more about accounts categories and micro-entities.
Active companies by year of incorporation
Companies incorporated in each year that are still active today. Younger cohorts are larger partly because older ones have been dissolved.
Most common activity codes
| SIC | Activity | Live companies |
|---|---|---|
| 84120 | Regulation of health care, education, cultural and other social services, not incl. social security | 5,034 |
| 84250 | Fire service activities | 1,880 |
| 84110 | General public administration activities | 1,095 |
| 84240 | Public order and safety activities | 830 |
| 84220 | Defence activities | 463 |
| 84130 | Regulation of and contribution to more efficient operation of businesses | 423 |
| 84230 | Justice and judicial activities | 214 |
| 84210 | Foreign affairs | 82 |
Methodology
Industry is the first SIC code each company declares on the Companies House register (snapshot 1 October 2026); the dormant placeholder 99999 is excluded. Status, accounts type and due dates come from the register. Financial measures come from our parse of 37 million iXBRL accounts filed since 2008; values above £100bn are treated as extraction errors. Companies filing paper or PDF accounts are not in the balance sheet figures. Full details: methodology.
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