Official Statistics

Incorporated companies in the UK: July to September 2016

Published 27 October 2016

1. Introduction

This release provides information about the population of companies in the United Kingdom. A company is defined as a specific legal form of business formed under the Companies Act 2006. Companies are registered at Companies House regardless of whether they go on to trade actively. Further information on companies and the Companies Act 2006 is provided in the document Definitions to accompany statistical releases.

This is the first quarterly release of Incorporated Companies in the UK. The final monthly publication of statistics for June 2016 was published in July, following the outcomes of the consultation on Companies House official statistics that ran earlier in 2016.

The statistics in this release include the total number of incorporated companies, the number of newly incorporated companies, and the number of companies that were dissolved. The release focusses on the headline messages for the United Kingdom: figures for the constituent countries are contained in the supplementary tables that accompany the release. The supplementary tables also contain separate figures for public companies and limited liability partnerships.

1.1 Key points

• In the United Kingdom in the three months to 30 September 2016, there were 154,685 company incorporations and 102,681 dissolutions.
• At the end of the period, the number of companies on the total register was 3,795,682. The number of companies on the effective register was 3,548,514.
• Both the total and effective registers have continued to increase in size since the beginning of 2014.
• Despite seasonal trends, the numbers of incorporations and dissolutions have also increased overall since 2014.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies dissolved during the first quarter of 2016, due to legislative changes introduced in October 2015.

2. Incorporated companies

In the United Kingdom in the three months 1 July to 30 September 2016, there were 154,685 company incorporations and 102,681 dissolutions. At the end of the period, the number of companies on the total register – including those in the process of dissolution or liquidation (247,168) – reached 3,795,682.

This was an increase of 53,799 companies compared to 30 June 2016, the end of the previous quarter. This change was largely driven by an increase of 51,717 companies in England and Wales, with changes in Northern Ireland and Scotland adding 2,082 companies.

The effective register, which excludes companies in the process of liquidation or dissolution, stood at 3,548,514 on 31 March 2016, an increase of 40,362 companies since 30 June 2016.

Compared with the same period in 2015, the United Kingdom total register increased by 207,200 companies (5.8%), while the effective register increased by 230,998 companies (7.0%). Both the total and effective registers have continued to increase in size in a uniform fashion since the beginning of 2014.

2.1 Chart 1: Total and effective register sizes, 2014 q1 to 2016 q3, UK

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK July to September 2016, Companies House

There were 7,636 (5.2%) more incorporations in July to September 2016 than in July to September 2015, and 3,462 (3.5%) more dissolutions. As in both 2014 and 2015, the number of incorporations increased in the first two quarters of the year, before declining in the third quarter. Despite these seasonal patterns, the number of incorporations has continued to follow a gradually increasing trend overall.

There was a sharp increase in the number of companies dissolved during the first quarter of 2016, due to legislative changes implemented in October 2015. These changes shortened both the voluntary and compulsory dissolution processes by one month. The number of dissolutions has remained higher throughout 2016 than in previous years, although the effect of the legislative changes has gradually declined.

These legislative changes have also served to reduce the number of companies in the course of removal from the register: 160,886 companies were in the course of removal on 30 September 2016, compared to 189,225 companies on the same date in 2015.

2.2 Chart 2: Incorporations and dissolutions, 2014 q1 to 2016 q3, UK

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK July to September 2016, Companies House

A full breakdown of figures for England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole is provided in the Excel workbook that accompanies this release. Figures are currently provided both at the quarterly and the yearly level for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016. This will be extended to provide five years of data for the next release.

3. Other statistics in this release

In addition to the tables covering register activity for all companies, a range of other statistics are included in the tables that accompany this release. These tables are provided at the individual country level and for the UK as a whole. The tables cover the following:

• Register activity for public companies
• Register activity for limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
• Company insolvencies and liquidations
• Removals from the register

4. Background notes

This section provides a range of information designed to provide the user with more information about the statistics.

4.1 Definitions

A separate document Definitions to accompany statistical releases is available, providing definitions for the main terms used in Companies House official statistics publications.

4.2 Quality

Information relating to the quality of the statistics is provided in a separate quality document. This document provides information on the quality of Companies House’s official statistics, to enable users to judge whether or not the data are of sufficient quality for their intended use. The information is structured in terms of the quality dimensions of the European Statistical System.

4.3 Coverage

This release provides information on the size of the company population and the changes that have occurred within the quarter. The release includes statistics for the United Kingdom, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The statistics cover companies, which are specific legal forms of businesses that are registered at Companies House. They do not include information on sole proprietorship businesses, partnerships, and charities.

4.4 Use and users

Companies House statistics are used extensively by government, the public, public bodies and businesses. For example, they are used by:

• government in understanding the likely impact of policy changes and monitoring the impact of economic changes on companies
• businesses in understanding their market share and planning marketing strategies
• banks in developing an understanding of their customer base
• foreign firms in making UK location decisions
• academics to inform research into businesses at local and national level
• a range of public bodies in decision making and evaluating business-related policies

4.5 Revisions to these statistics

Revisions to these statistics will be mainly due to changes in methodologies and source data. The statistics are derived from administrative data, and changes to the underlying methods will cause revisions. These include changes in statistical methods, definitions, classifications, and geographic coverage.

Although Companies House has robust procedures in place to minimise errors in the methods used to create these statistics, errors may occasionally occur. If errors are found after the publication, their impact will be assessed. If the changes are significant, a corrigendum will be issued as soon as possible. Minor corrections will be included in the next planned release.

Any misleading or incorrect figures will be amended and a footnote added to indicate that the figures have been corrected. The nature and reason for the correction will be explained.

Revisions in this release: No revisions.

Planned revisions: No planned revisions.

4.6 Date of next release

Statistics for the period 1 October to 31 December 2016 will be published on 26 January 2017. The publication date will be announced on the release calendar.