UK public administration and defence companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | 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
Central government, councils and the armed forces are not usually limited companies, so this section is not a picture of the public sector. It is a small group of private companies that chose a public administration SIC code, and the figures should be read with that in mind.
The code mix explains a lot. More than half of the active companies use 84120, regulation of health care, education, cultural and other social services (5,034 live companies). The second code is 84250 fire service activities (1,880), which likely includes private fire safety and protection firms. Formation has grown quickly: 1,509 active companies were incorporated in 2025, against 146 from 2016.
Three differences stand out:
- Youth: a median age of 3.6 years and 43.4% young companies, against 34% for the UK, following the recent wave of incorporations.
- Little borrowing: 3.4% with outstanding charges, against 12.1%. These are mostly service businesses with few assets to secure.
- Small balance sheets: median net assets of £1,655 against £3,113, and 10.3% under a strike-off proposal, which fits a young population where many companies never start trading.
Negative net assets are less common than average: 14.1% against 18.8%. The trend has moved around because the group is small, from 12.0% for financial years ending in 2014 to 14.2% in 2025, while the UK went from 16.4% to 18.6%. Negative net assets are a warning sign, not proof of insolvency.
If you are dealing with a company that presents itself as a public body or regulator, check the company on the register first and look for Companies House red flags. Compare with administrative and support services.
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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