How many wholesale companies are there in the UK?

There are 212,856 active wholesale companies with a registered office in the UK, according to Companies House records. 68,843 of them are not dormant and have filed accounts in the last 21 months (data to 31 Jan 2026).

These figures last changed on 9 Oct 2026 and were last checked against the data on 9 Oct 2026.

Active companies: 212,856
With recent accounts, not dormant: 68,843
Employees reported in accounts: 314,505
Median net assets: £14,015
Data as of: 31 Jan 2026

Of the 212,856 active wholesale companies registered in the UK, 23,751 are dormant and 68,843 are not dormant and have filed accounts in the last 21 months. The figures below describe those 68,843 companies, unless a table says otherwise.

Together, the 47,675 companies that reported at least one employee reported 314,505 employees in their latest accounts. The median among them is 2.

By size of accounts

Wholesale companies in the UK by accounts category
Accounts category	Companies	Share
Micro-entity accounts	29,991	43.6%
Small company accounts	37,240	54.1%
Medium company accounts	347	0.5%
Medium or large company accounts	52	0.1%
Category not known	1,213	1.8%

The category is the type of accounts a company filed, which follows its size. Micro-entities are the smallest.

By number of employees

Wholesale companies in the UK by average number of employees
Average employees	Companies	Share
None or not reported	21,168	30.7%
1 to 4	33,994	49.4%
5 to 9	6,580	9.6%
10 to 49	6,355	9.2%
50 to 249	701	1.0%
250 or more	45	0.1%

Average employees in the latest accounts. Many small companies have no employees other than their directors, or do not state a number.

By age

Active wholesale companies in the UK by years since incorporation
Years since incorporation	Companies	Share
Under 2 years	83,988	39.5%
2 to 4 years	37,039	17.4%
5 to 9 years	40,021	18.8%
10 to 19 years	26,364	12.4%
20 years or more	25,444	12.0%

All active companies, dormant ones included.

By year of incorporation

Active wholesale companies in the UK by year of incorporation
Incorporated in	Companies
2021	10,220
2022	10,702
2023	15,418
2024	19,641
2025	37,000

Companies incorporated in each year that are still active. Companies that have since closed are not counted, so these are not the numbers formed in each year.

Typical figures

Median figures for wholesale companies in the UK, with the number of companies each median is taken from
Figure	Median	Companies reporting it
Net assets	£14,015	56,951
Employees (companies with one or more)	2	47,675
Cash at bank	£36,442	34,269
Cash at bank per employee	£11,976	27,491
Fixed assets per employee	£5,195	23,842

The median is the middle company: half report more and half report less. Each median covers only the companies that reported that figure, so it describes those companies and not every company in the industry. A median is shown only when at least 30 companies reported the figure.

26,997 of the 50,762 companies with net assets for two consecutive years (53.2%) reported higher net assets than the year before.

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How these figures were produced

Industry

Companies with any of these SIC codes on their Companies House record:

every code beginning 46 – Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

Location

Every company on the UK register, wherever its registered office is.

Active companies

Companies whose status at Companies House is active. Dissolved companies are not in the data.

Recent accounts

Accounts made up to a date in the 21 months before 31 Jan 2026, the newest accounts date in the data.

Registered addresses

17,203 of the 68,843 companies with recent accounts (25.0%) are registered at an address shared by 50 or more companies, such as an accountant's office. Those companies may trade somewhere else.