New company statistics: Retail and e-commerce
In the 12 months to August 2026, Companies House records in this analysis show 120,676 new companies incorporated in the Retail and e-commerce group. Companies House records in this analysis show that the number of new companies decreased within the stated period. The data does not establish why the count changed.
A company is counted here if any of its filed SIC codes falls in this group, so a company can appear in more than one group and these figures are not a UK total for the sector.
| Month | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|
| Sep | 10,254 | 12,887 |
| Oct | 10,825 | 12,363 |
| Nov | 9,304 | 9,694 |
| Dec | 8,335 | 8,120 |
| Jan | 11,220 | 11,570 |
| Feb | 10,491 | 8,566 |
| Mar | 11,617 | 9,878 |
| Apr | 11,798 | 9,686 |
| May | 11,658 | 9,245 |
| Jun | 11,659 | 9,497 |
| Jul | 12,842 | 10,881 |
| Aug | 12,088 | 8,289 |
These are the places Launch Register publishes, ranked by companies in this group over the latest rolling 12 months. They are not every UK local authority, so they do not sum to the group's national total. A place counting fewer than ten companies in this group is not shown.
| Local authority | Companies | Change |
|---|---|---|
| London | 47,284 | ▲ 4.9% |
| Manchester | 4,045 | ▲ 4.3% |
| Birmingham | 3,151 | ▼ 5.6% |
| Glasgow | 1,504 | ▲ 2.8% |
| Leeds | 1,085 | ▲ 0.7% |
| Leicester | 1,015 | ▲ 3.4% |
| Edinburgh | 923 | ▼ 6.2% |
| Liverpool | 880 | ▼ 1.7% |
| Sheffield | 691 | ▼ 26.9% |
| Nottingham | 587 | ▼ 4.2% |
| Bristol | 569 | ▲ 0.2% |
| Cardiff | 516 | ▲ 0.8% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 415 | ▼ 7.4% |
| Reading | 293 | ▲ 10.2% |
| Cambridge | 246 | ▼ 30.5% |
Each row counts companies that filed the exact code over the latest rolling 12 months. A company filing more than one of the group's codes is counted under each, so these do not add up to the group total. A code counting fewer than ten companies is not listed.
| SIC code | Description | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 47910 | Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet | 73,002 |
| 47990 | Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets | 12,583 |
| 47190 | Other retail sale in non-specialised stores | 8,050 |
| 47110 | Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating | 7,648 |
| 47710 | Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores | 6,490 |
| 47750 | Retail sale of cosmetic and toilet articles in specialised stores | 2,844 |
| 47290 | Other retail sale of food in specialised stores | 2,753 |
| 47789 | Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (not commercial art galleries and opticians) | 2,099 |
| 47820 | Retail sale via stalls and markets of textiles, clothing and footwear | 2,031 |
| 47770 | Retail sale of watches and jewellery in specialised stores | 1,866 |
| 47640 | Retail sale of sports goods, fishing gear, camping goods, boats and bicycles | 1,714 |
| 47890 | Retail sale via stalls and markets of other goods | 1,682 |
| 47599 | Retail of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised store | 1,650 |
| 47240 | Retail sale of bread, cakes, flour confectionery and sugar confectionery in specialised stores | 1,587 |
| 47650 | Retail sale of games and toys in specialised stores | 1,382 |
| 47760 | Retail sale of flowers, plants, seeds, fertilizers, pet animals and pet food in specialised stores | 1,368 |
| 47421 | Retail sale of mobile telephones | 1,204 |
| 47250 | Retail sale of beverages in specialised stores | 1,041 |
| 47210 | Retail sale of fruit and vegetables in specialised stores | 914 |
| 47410 | Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores | 908 |
| 47220 | Retail sale of meat and meat products in specialised stores | 907 |
| 47810 | Retail sale via stalls and markets of food, beverages and tobacco products | 812 |
| 47730 | Dispensing chemist in specialised stores | 725 |
| 47510 | Retail sale of textiles in specialised stores | 656 |
| 47799 | Retail sale of other second-hand goods in stores (not incl. antiques) | 623 |
| 47540 | Retail sale of electrical household appliances in specialised stores | 620 |
| 47530 | Retail sale of carpets, rugs, wall and floor coverings in specialised stores | 607 |
| 47260 | Retail sale of tobacco products in specialised stores | 606 |
| 47429 | Retail sale of telecommunications equipment other than mobile telephones | 576 |
| 47721 | Retail sale of footwear in specialised stores | 520 |
| 47610 | Retail sale of books in specialised stores | 481 |
| 47520 | Retail sale of hardware, paints and glass in specialised stores | 467 |
| 47749 | Retail sale of medical and orthopaedic goods in specialised stores (not incl. hearing aids) n.e.c. | 416 |
| 47722 | Retail sale of leather goods in specialised stores | 405 |
| 47791 | Retail sale of antiques including antique books in stores | 358 |
| 47781 | Retail sale in commercial art galleries | 337 |
| 47620 | Retail sale of newspapers and stationery in specialised stores | 331 |
| 47782 | Retail sale by opticians | 290 |
| 47230 | Retail sale of fish, crustaceans and molluscs in specialised stores | 288 |
| 47300 | Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores | 215 |
| 47430 | Retail sale of audio and video equipment in specialised stores | 176 |
| 47630 | Retail sale of music and video recordings in specialised stores | 166 |
| 47741 | Retail sale of hearing aids | 127 |
| 47591 | Retail sale of musical instruments and scores | 109 |
How this group is defined
This group follows the official SIC 2007 structure (Official SIC 2007 division 47). All of SIC 2007 division 47 — retail trade from specialist and non-specialist stores to market stalls and mail-order / Internet sales. "E-commerce" is a Launch Register label for this multi-channel division, not an official Companies House category.
The mapping is published as version sic2007-lr-v1, with all 44 five-digit codes listed below, so this analysis can be reproduced rather than taken on trust. The full mapping, and how dormant, non-trading and unfiled codes are treated, is in the methodology; the guide to SIC codes explains what these codes mean.
The 44 SIC 2007 codes in this group (sic2007-lr-v1)
47110, 47190, 47210, 47220, 47230, 47240, 47250, 47260, 47290, 47300, 47410, 47421, 47429, 47430, 47510, 47520, 47530, 47540, 47591, 47599, 47610, 47620, 47630, 47640, 47650, 47710, 47721, 47722, 47730, 47741, 47749, 47750, 47760, 47770, 47781, 47782, 47789, 47791, 47799, 47810, 47820, 47890, 47910, 47990
- Multiple SIC codes
- A company may file up to four codes and can appear in more than one broad group. Group totals are not additive, and the UK share is calculated on that basis.
- Self-classification
- SIC codes are chosen by the company at filing. A filed code is not verification that the company does that activity, or is trading at all.
- No “primary” code
- Companies House does not designate one filed code as primary, so neither do we.
Launch Register analysis of Companies House public data: private limited companies with a filed SIC code in the Retail and e-commerce group (sic2007-lr-v1), incorporated in the 12 months to August 2026.
https://launchregister.co.uk/company-statistics/industries/retail-and-ecommerce/ · Data through August 2026 · Last updated 2026-09-18 · Coverage 2024-09/2026-08 · Methodology methodology-v1 · Industry mapping sic2007-lr-v1
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