Official Statistics

Incorporated companies in the UK July to September 2022

Published 27 October 2022

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incorporated-companies-in-the-uk-july-to-september-2022/incorporated-companies-in-the-uk-april-to-june-2022

1. Introduction

This release provides information about the population of companies in the UK. 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 actively trade. Further information on companies and the Companies Act 2006 is provided in the document Definitions to accompany statistical releases.

The statistics in this release include the total number of registered companies, the number of newly incorporated companies and the number of companies that were dissolved. The release focusses on the headline messages for the UK. Figures for the constituent countries are contained in the spreadsheets that accompany this release, along with figures for public companies and limited liability partnerships.

Please note: We have made a change to the way our statistical tables are presented. Previously, we defined the four quarters of the year with respect to the calendar year. As of April 2022, we bring that in line with our annual ‘Companies Register Activities’ publication, and define the four quarters with respect to the financial year. The financial year runs from the beginning of April to the end of the following March and is broken down such that:

  • April to June is the first quarter
  • July to September is the second quarter
  • October to December is the third quarter
  • January to March is the fourth quarter

2. Key points

  • At the end of September 2022, there were 4,988,861 companies on the total register and 4,569,288 on the effective register.
  • During the second quarter of 2022 to 2023, the total register increased by 46,407 companies (0.9%), and the effective register increased by 26,067 companies (0.6%).
  • Between July and September 2022, there were 193,776 new incorporations and 149,488 dissolutions in the UK.
  • The number of incorporations in the second quarter of 2022 to 2023 increased by 15,259 (8.5%) when compared with the same quarter of 2021 to 2022 and by 24,025 (14.2%) when compared with the same quarter of 2019 to 2020.
  • The number of dissolutions in the second quarter of 2022 to 2023 decreased by 6,106 (3.9%) when compared with the second quarter of 2021 to 2022, but increased by 19,693 (15.2%) when compared with the same quarter of 2019 to 2020.
  • The number of companies in the course of removal in the second quarter of 2022 to 2023 increased by 33,788 (12.0%) when compared with the same period in 2021 to 2022, and by 135,537 (74.9%) when compared with the same quarter of 2019 to 2020. When compared with the first quarter of 2022 to 2023, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 19,209 (6.5%).

For further details on the above points, please refer to Section 4 of this release.

3. Key events

  • In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures introduced in March 2020, a set of easements were announced by Companies House on 16 April 2020. They included the temporary pause of the strike off process (voluntary and compulsory) to give businesses affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures the time they needed to update their records filed with Companies House and help them avoid being struck off the register. The impact of this announcement was that compulsory dissolutions from 2 April 2020 onwards were temporarily paused, as was the final stage of voluntary dissolutions.
  • On 10 September 2020 the voluntary strike off process resumed via a phased release through the remainder of September and into October. This removed companies that applied to be struck off before July 2020, including some companies that filed for dissolution before the first UK-wide COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020. The release of paused compulsory dissolutions began on 10 October 2020.
  • In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was a second pause of the voluntary and compulsory strike off processes on 21 January 2021. Companies House temporarily paused the strike off processes so that companies and creditors would not be adversely affected by processing delays. The strike off process resumed via a phased release on 8th March 2021.
  • As part of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, companies were granted automatic extensions to their filing deadlines, which may have affected the volume of dissolutions in 2020 and 2021.
  • Once a company starts the dissolution process (voluntary or compulsory), there is an opportunity for others to object to the dissolution and strike off. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government operated several loan schemes to support companies. The government acts as a guarantor for these loans, and objects to strike-off proceedings if there is an outstanding Bounce Back Loan, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan, or Recovery Loan in place. The objection is only removed once the lender confirms that there is no longer an outstanding loan in place. This has been a contributing factor to an increase in the number of companies in the process of removal since the fourth quarter of 2020 to 2021.

4. Incorporated companies

At the end of September 2022, there were 4,988,861 companies on the total register – which includes those in the course of removal and liquidation (419,573). During the period July to September 2022, the size of the total register had increased by 46,407 companies (0.9%) when compared with the end of June 2022, and by 172,038 companies (3.6%) when compared with the same period in 2021. Growth in the size of the total register was observed in all constituent countries; England and Wales increased by 0.9%, Scotland by 0.7% and Northern Ireland by 1.0%.

The number of companies on the effective register (which excludes those in the course of removal or liquidation) was 4,569,288 at the end of September 2022. During the period July to September 2022, the size of the effective register increased by 26,067 companies (0.6%) when compared with the end of June 2022, and by 133,093 companies (3.0%) when compared with the end of September 2021. Growth in the size of the effective register was observed in all constituent countries; England and Wales increased by 0.6%, Scotland by 0.7% and Northern Ireland by 1.1%.

The size of both the total and effective registers increased at a consistent rate up to the final quarter of 2019/20 and first quarter of 2020/21, respectively. However, between the final quarter of 2019/20 and the first quarter of 2021/22 the rate of growth of the total register size significantly increased. During this period, the rate of growth of incorporations increased, along with a decrease in the number of dissolutions. A similar trend is seen for the growth in the effective register. Growth in the total register size in the second quarter of 2022/23 (0.9%) was similar to that of the final quarter of 2019/20 (0.8%), prior to the start of the pandemic. However, growth in the effective register size in the second quarter of 2022/23 (0.6%) decreased compared to the first quarter of 2022/23 (1.0%) and the final quarter of 2019/20 (1.0%). Please refer to Key events for more details.

4.1 Chart 1: UK total and effective register sizes, 2012/13 quarter 2 to 2022/23 quarter 2

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK, July to September 2022, Companies House

Between July and September 2022, there were 193,776 new incorporations and 149,488 dissolutions in the UK. Due to the disruption to the strike off process as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to make like for like comparisons with the financial year 2020/21. We therefore compare our figures for the second quarter of 2022/23 with the same quarters in 2021/22 and 2019/20.

During the second quarter of 2022/23, the number of incorporations increased by 15,259 (8.5%) when compared with the same quarter of 2021/22 and by 24,025 (14.2%) when compared with the same quarter of 2019/20. The number of incorporations has continued to increase over time. For instance, there were 77,613 more incorporations in the second quarter of 2022/23 when compared with the second quarter of 2012/13; this represents an average annual growth rate of 5.3% over the last 10 years.

The number of dissolutions during the second quarter of 2022/23 decreased by 6,106 (3.9%) when compared with the same quarter of 2021/22 but increased by 19,693 (15.2%) when compared with the same quarter of 2019/20. The number of dissolutions has generally increased over time, with the exception of the pause to strike off in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 73,025 more dissolutions in the second quarter of 2022/23 than in the second quarter of 2012/13, which represents an average annual growth rate of 6.9% over the last 10 years.

4.2 Chart 2: UK total incorporations and dissolutions, 2012/13 quarter 2 to 2022/23 quarter 2

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK, July to September 2022, Companies House

Between July and September 2022, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 33,788 (12.0%) when compared with the same period in 2021/22 and by 135,537 (74.9%) when compared with the same period in 2019/20. When compared with the first quarter of 2022/23, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 19,209 (6.5%). It is difficult to make like for like comparisons to previous years due to disruptions to the strike off process in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures. There were also large-scale objections to dissolutions for companies with outstanding government-backed COVID-19 support loans. Please refer to the Key events for more details.

A full breakdown of figures for England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole is provided in the spreadsheets that accompany this release. Figures are provided on both a quarterly and annual basis from 2012/13.

5. Other statistics in this release

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

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

6. Background notes

This section provides the user with more information about the statistics.

6.1 Definitions

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

6.2 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 the data is of sufficient quality for their intended use. The information is structured in terms of the quality dimensions of the European Statistical System. The document also provides information on how these statistics relate to other business statistics.

6.3 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 UK, England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The statistics cover companies, which are specific legal forms of businesses registered at Companies House, and do not include information on sole proprietorship businesses, partnerships, or charities.

6.4 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.

6.5 Consultation

Results of the most recent consultation on these official statistics are published on the GOV.UK website.

6.6 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 correction 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.

6.7 Date of next release

Annual statistics for the financial year 2022/23 will be published on 29 June 2023.

Statistics for the period 1 October to 31 December 2022 will be published on 26 January 2023.

The publication dates have been announced on the GOV.UK release calendar.

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