UK wholesale, retail and motor trade companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 653,899 | 5,166,057 | 12.7% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 3.4 | 5.6 | 39% lower |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 46.8% | 34.0% | 12.8 pts higher |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 30.8% | 32.4% | close to UK |
| Filing dormant accounts | 9.2% | 10.8% | 1.6 pts lower |
| Accounts overdue | 1.7% | 1.8% | close to UK |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 10.5% | 7.4% | 3.1 pts higher |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 1.5% | 2.0% | 0.5 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 8.1% | 12.1% | 4.0 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £2,295 | £3,113 | 26% lower |
| Negative net assets | 22.1% | 18.8% | 3.3 pts higher |
| Net current liabilities | 36.2% | 36.2% | close to UK |
| Median cash at bank | £12k | £10k | 20% higher |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 27.4% | 35.3% | 7.9 pts lower |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 23.4% | 20.3% | 3.1 pts higher |
| 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: 415,466 companies here (63.5% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £41k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £734 to £88k.
What the numbers say
Wholesale and retail is the largest section on the register, and its profile is shaped by a wave of new online sellers.
The headline is youth. The median company is 3.4 years old, against 5.6 for the UK, and 46.8% were incorporated in the last three years. The single largest code is 47910 retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet, with 165,117 live companies, and new incorporations nearly doubled: 117,388 of today's active companies were formed in 2025, against 62,999 in 2024. Online selling through marketplaces needs little capital, so it is easy to start a company and easy to stop. That likely explains why 34.4% of active companies have not filed accounts yet (UK 26%) and why 10.5% are under a proposal to strike off, about 40% above the UK rate (see strike-off data).
Balance sheets are thinner. Median net assets are £2,295, about a quarter below the UK median, and cash covers creditors due within a year at only 27.4% of companies, against 35.3%. Retailers hold stock rather than cash and buy on supplier credit, which also keeps the median current ratio at 1.12. Negative net assets are more common than average (22.1% against 18.8%) and have been above the UK level every year since 2012: 21.3% for financial years ending in 2014 and 22.0% in 2025. A negative figure is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency (negative net assets).
Two measures run the other way. Only 8.1% have outstanding charges, against 12.1%, as few small online sellers own property or plant to secure. And 1.5% are in an insolvency process, against 2.0%, probably because small traders more often close through strike-off than through formal insolvency.
If you sell to retailers on credit, read check a supplier before paying and compare with manufacturing and hospitality.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No accounts filed yet | 34.4% | 26.0% |
| Micro-entity | 30.8% | 32.4% |
| Total exemption full | 19.9% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 9.2% | 10.8% |
| Unaudited abridged | 3.0% | 2.9% |
| Full (audited) | 0.9% | 1.5% |
| Small | 0.8% | 1.2% |
| Audit exemption subsidiary | 0.5% | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 47910 | Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet | 165,117 |
| 45200 | Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles | 53,089 |
| 45112 | Sale of used cars and light motor vehicles | 37,833 |
| 47110 | Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating | 37,017 |
| 47990 | Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets | 34,570 |
| 46900 | Non-specialised wholesale trade | 34,308 |
| 47190 | Other retail sale in non-specialised stores | 32,716 |
| 47710 | Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores | 23,879 |
Divisions in this section
| Division | Active companies | Negative net assets | Median cash | Overdue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 Retail trade | 384,768 | 23.9% | £7,686 | 1.5% |
| 46 Wholesale trade | 166,193 | 19.9% | £22k | 2.0% |
| 45 Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles | 102,938 | 19.8% | £18k | 1.7% |
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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