UK IT, software and media companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 435,543 | 5,166,057 | 8.4% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 5 | 5.6 | 11% lower |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 38.6% | 34.0% | 4.6 pts higher |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 37.4% | 32.4% | 5.0 pts higher |
| Filing dormant accounts | 9.9% | 10.8% | close to UK |
| Accounts overdue | 1.8% | 1.8% | close to UK |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 7.1% | 7.4% | close to UK |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 1.3% | 2.0% | 0.7 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 3.8% | 12.1% | 8.3 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £2,752 | £3,113 | 12% lower |
| Negative net assets | 19.5% | 18.8% | close to UK |
| Net current liabilities | 31.3% | 36.2% | 4.9 pts lower |
| Median cash at bank | £12k | £10k | 17% higher |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 41.7% | 35.3% | 6.4 pts higher |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 21.4% | 20.3% | close to UK |
| 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: 300,524 companies here (69.0% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £38k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £480 to £75k.
What the numbers say
Information and communication is dominated by people, not plant. The two largest codes are 62020 information technology consultancy (129,365 live companies) and 62012 business and domestic software development (99,226), and many of these are likely single-contractor companies set up by IT professionals.
That model explains the most distinctive figure: only 3.8% of active companies have outstanding charges, under a third of the UK rate. A contractor or small software studio rarely owns property or machinery, and banks have little to take security over. Creditors are also small: the median for creditors due within a year is £9,680 against £13,788, so cash covers them more often (41.7% of companies, against 35.3%) and the median cash ratio is 0.72 against 0.5. Fewer companies show net current liabilities: 31.3% against 36.2%.
Formal insolvency is less common, at 1.3% against 2.0%. With few suppliers or employees, a consultancy that stops trading usually has little to wind up and can close voluntarily. The sector also files micro-entity accounts more often than average (37.4% against 32.4%).
Negative net assets are slightly above the UK level (19.5% against 18.8%). The trend has run close to the national figure: 18.1% for financial years ending in 2014 and 19.3% in 2025, against 16.4% and 18.6%. Funded software start-ups that spend investor money before earning revenue partly explain the excess. A negative figure is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency (negative net assets).
New incorporations jumped: 58,923 of today's active companies were formed in 2025, against 35,044 in 2024. Compare with financial and insurance, or use how to check a UK company before engaging a contractor or software 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 | 37.4% | 32.4% |
| No accounts filed yet | 28.0% | 26.0% |
| Total exemption full | 19.2% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 9.9% | 10.8% |
| Unaudited abridged | 2.3% | 2.9% |
| Small | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| Full (audited) | 1.1% | 1.5% |
| Audit exemption subsidiary | 0.7% | 0.7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 62020 | Information technology consultancy activities | 129,365 |
| 62012 | Business and domestic software development | 99,226 |
| 62090 | Other information technology service activities | 54,755 |
| 59112 | Video production activities | 22,002 |
| 59111 | Motion picture production activities | 21,298 |
| 58290 | Other software publishing | 17,860 |
| 59200 | Sound recording and music publishing activities | 16,173 |
| 63990 | Other information service activities n.e.c. | 16,116 |
Divisions in this section
| Division | Active companies | Negative net assets | Median cash | Overdue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities | 268,725 | 18.5% | £14k | 1.6% |
| 59 Film, video and TV production, sound recording and music publishing | 71,818 | 21.0% | £9,818 | 1.9% |
| 58 Publishing activities | 46,588 | 24.2% | £6,607 | 1.8% |
| 63 Information service activities | 29,439 | 19.8% | £7,859 | 2.2% |
| 61 Telecommunications | 14,570 | 17.4% | £19k | 2.6% |
| 60 Programming and broadcasting | 4,403 | 18.1% | £10k | 2.0% |
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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