Business succession index · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Business succession in North West

Of 331,578 active companies in North West, 19.7% have a youngest owner aged 60 or over (United Kingdom: 20.8%).

331,578

Active companies

19.7%

Youngest owner 60+

20.8%

United Kingdom average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	Owner 60+	%
Machinery and equipment n.e.c.	28	786	302	46%
Electrical equipment	27	415	160	43.7%
Rubber and plastic products	22	589	207	43.3%
Computer, electronic and optical products	26	496	157	37.9%
Insurance and pension funding	65	304	91	36.8%
Chemicals and chemical products	20	630	168	36.4%
Paper and paper products	17	269	81	35.8%
Fabricated metal products	25	1,867	573	34.3%
Textiles	13	728	221	33.5%
Scientific research and development	72	628	173	33.4%
Other manufacturing	32	2,024	544	30.7%
Other non-metallic mineral products	23	353	95	30.5%
Crop and animal production	01	2,098	583	30.2%
Forestry and logging	02	367	104	30.1%
Other professional and technical activities	74	10,799	2,782	27.6%
Repair and installation of machinery	33	2,490	646	27.2%
Remediation activities	39	260	65	27.1%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	17,744	4,525	27.1%
Auxiliary financial services	66	1,470	350	27%
Accommodation	55	3,353	757	26.7%
Office administrative and support	82	16,220	4,019	26.7%
Architecture and engineering	71	7,392	1,892	26.4%
Motor vehicles and trailers	29	292	68	26.1%
Membership organisations	94	1,215	191	26.1%
Furniture	31	769	182	25.3%
Printing and reproduction	18	921	218	24.9%
Waste collection and treatment	38	817	183	24.8%
Legal and accounting activities	69	6,135	1,461	24.6%
Wholesale trade	46	11,303	2,416	23.2%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning	35	882	146	22.6%
Wood and wood products	16	641	137	22.5%
Financial services	64	11,548	2,127	22.2%
Wearing apparel	14	442	92	22%
Construction of buildings	41	12,312	2,371	22%
Publishing	58	1,637	333	21.7%
Rental and leasing	77	1,698	335	21.5%
Warehousing and support	52	1,796	352	21.1%
Residential care	87	2,052	361	20.4%
Food products	10	1,303	237	20.2%
Civil engineering	42	2,335	437	20.1%
Real estate activities	68	42,549	7,540	19.6%
Social work	88	2,184	348	19.6%
Programming and broadcasting	60	320	55	19.3%
Telecommunications	61	1,124	197	19.3%
Security and investigation	80	1,334	245	18.9%
Repair of computers and personal goods	95	468	85	18.8%
Education	85	7,515	1,223	18.7%
Wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles	45	8,189	1,450	18.2%
Travel agencies	79	1,166	198	18.2%
Land transport	49	5,825	997	17.8%
Specialised construction activities	43	21,931	3,706	17.3%
Information services	63	2,377	379	16.8%
Beverages	11	363	56	16.6%
Sports and recreation	93	5,166	720	16.5%
Public administration and defence	84	640	96	16.1%
Other personal service activities	96	14,961	2,200	15.4%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	4,126	575	14.5%
Human health activities	86	15,658	2,104	14.2%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	3,128	393	13.9%
Postal and courier activities	53	782	105	13.8%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	14,719	1,945	13.8%
Retail trade	47	25,093	3,282	13.6%
Food and beverage service	56	12,932	1,561	12.7%
Motion picture and sound production	59	3,104	361	12%
Veterinary activities	75	903	83	11.5%
Employment activities	78	3,099	316	11%
Advertising and market research	73	2,542	252	10.2%

By trade in North West

Trade	Companies	%
Landlords and property letting	21,761	23.2%
Management consultancy	17,744	27.1%
Property trading	15,817	13.3%
Business support services	15,190	27.4%
IT consultancy and support	10,835	14.5%
Wellness and other personal services	9,320	19%
Online and mail-order retail	9,217	8.6%
Restaurants and takeaways	8,250	10.5%
Property developers	7,246	24.3%
Physiotherapy and other health services	6,771	14.2%
Other professional services	6,556	30.8%
GP and specialist medical practices	5,778	15%
Engineering consultancy	5,507	27%
Training providers and tutoring	5,175	16.2%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	5,078	7.4%
Building contractors	5,066	19%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	4,437	11.2%
Accountants and bookkeepers	4,158	27.1%
Road haulage	4,118	16.8%
Electricians	4,069	14.6%
Garages and vehicle repair	4,059	19%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	3,962	20.1%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	3,933	15.2%
Software development	3,884	11.9%
Film, TV, radio and music production	3,424	12.7%
Property management	3,381	28.5%
Plumbing and heating engineers	3,240	14.9%
Plastering and building finishing	3,154	18.3%
Performing arts	3,128	13.9%
Lenders and financial services	3,102	23.4%
Recruitment agencies	3,099	11%
Car and van dealers	2,933	15.7%
Wholesale agents and brokers	2,811	25.2%
Pubs and bars	2,597	20.2%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	2,587	21.3%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	2,542	10.2%
Machinery repair and installation	2,490	27.2%
Cleaning companies	2,374	13.2%
Hosting, data and web portals	2,335	16.9%
Civil engineering contractors	2,335	20.1%
Home care and social care	2,184	19.6%
Insulation and other building installation	2,135	17.5%
Schools and colleges	2,090	24.9%
Event caterers and contract catering	2,085	12.6%
Care homes	2,052	20.4%
Law firms	1,977	19.3%
Holiday lets, hostels and campsites	1,977	26.6%
Joiners and carpenters	1,932	17.4%
Dental practices	1,883	10.6%
Design studios	1,879	13.8%
General wholesalers	1,869	20.8%
Jewellery, toys and other manufacturing	1,843	31.6%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	1,747	16.7%
Metal fabrication	1,684	33.1%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	1,620	27.5%
Livestock farming	1,594	28.7%
Estate agents	1,590	18.2%
Clothing and shoe shops	1,559	17.6%
Food and drink wholesalers	1,507	21.6%
Architects	1,459	22.8%
Hotels	1,376	26.8%
Security services	1,334	18.9%
Landscaping and gardening	1,324	14.9%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	1,277	21.5%
Amusement and leisure	1,233	20.6%
Private hospitals and clinics	1,226	15.2%
Painters and decorators	1,203	23%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	1,171	28.4%
Textiles and clothing manufacturing	1,170	29.1%
Travel agents and tour operators	1,166	18.2%
Publishers and news agencies	1,150	25.9%
Equipment and plant hire	1,133	25.3%
Telecoms providers	1,124	19.3%
Pharmacies and medical retail	1,116	15.6%
Roofers	1,096	13.4%
Waste management and recycling	1,077	25.4%
Furniture and homeware shops	1,030	23%
Vehicle parts suppliers	1,006	20.3%
Printers	921	24.9%
Electronics and appliance shops	915	12.7%
Veterinary practices	903	11.5%
Taxi and private hire firms	886	18.8%
Power generation and supply	882	22.6%
Machinery manufacturing	786	46%
Couriers and postal services	782	13.8%
Furniture makers	769	25.3%
Financial advisers and fund managers	767	22.4%
Office support and call centres	715	19.4%
Flooring and tiling	709	18.4%
Sports and toy shops	708	9.3%
Insurance brokers	703	32.1%
Photographers	690	11.7%
Food manufacturing	689	19.6%
Hardware and DIY shops	680	27.9%
Chemicals manufacturing	662	36.6%
Sawmills and wood products	641	22.5%
Research and development	628	33.4%
Machinery and equipment wholesalers	613	34.3%
IT and electronics wholesalers	602	11.4%
Plastics and rubber products	589	43.3%
Market stalls	573	14.1%
Car and van rental and leasing	565	14.2%
Software and games publishers	529	12%
Bus and coach operators	525	25.1%
Warehousing and storage	519	20%
Vehicle, boat and transport equipment makers	509	28.9%
Electronics manufacturing	496	37.9%
Florists, garden centres and pet shops	453	17.2%
Demolition and groundworks	431	21.6%
Facilities management	428	21.8%
Testing and inspection	426	31.1%
Electrical equipment manufacturing	415	43.7%
Arable farming	395	34.8%
Forestry and logging	367	30.1%
Breweries, distilleries and drinks makers	363	16.6%
Machining and precision engineering	361	38.9%
Glass, ceramics and building materials	353	30.5%
Bakeries	349	15%
Jewellers and watch shops	347	22.7%
Event and conference organisers	315	9.9%
Appliance, furniture and shoe repair	313	20.7%
Insurers	304	36.8%
Funeral directors	294	31.5%
Bookshops, newsagents and music shops	287	19%
Cosmetics and toiletries shops	270	9.3%
Laundries and dry cleaners	269	31.1%
Paper and packaging	269	35.8%
Driving schools	250	22%

Methodology

Share of ACTIVE, non-dormant companies that filed accounts within three years and whose YOUNGEST person with significant control is aged 60 or over. Percentages are of companies where an owner age is on file, not of all companies. Regions are assigned from the registered-office postcode area, which is not always where a company trades; areas that cross a regional border count towards the region most of them lies in.

Per region, only industries with at least 250 companies are shown. Source: Companies House free company data + PSC snapshot (snapshot 2026-09-01), licensed under OGL v3.0.

Aggregates only — no individual company is ever shown publicly with a succession indicator.