Business succession index · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Business succession in South West

Of 233,760 active companies in South West, 25.1% have a youngest owner aged 60 or over (United Kingdom: 20.8%).

233,760

Active companies

25.1%

Youngest owner 60+

20.8%

United Kingdom average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	Owner 60+	%
Libraries, archives and museums	91	271	82	58.2%
Machinery and equipment n.e.c.	28	586	217	45.2%
Computer, electronic and optical products	26	523	191	42.4%
Rubber and plastic products	22	414	135	40.5%
Electrical equipment	27	381	120	39.1%
Fabricated metal products	25	1,326	458	37.8%
Chemicals and chemical products	20	300	95	37.1%
Crop and animal production	01	3,526	1,183	36.4%
Textiles	13	326	108	35.9%
Other manufacturing	32	1,714	561	35.9%
Accommodation	55	3,741	1,099	34.6%
Legal and accounting activities	69	4,139	1,396	34.6%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	13,500	4,345	33.8%
Membership organisations	94	1,138	190	33.7%
Scientific research and development	72	525	149	32.9%
Office administrative and support	82	8,708	2,505	32.1%
Other non-metallic mineral products	23	342	99	31.6%
Publishing	58	1,952	569	31.4%
Auxiliary financial services	66	1,208	332	31%
Other transport equipment	30	333	88	30.9%
Wholesale trade	46	5,758	1,625	30.9%
Residential care	87	1,340	354	30.9%
Fishing and aquaculture	03	345	93	30.6%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning	35	1,360	202	29.8%
Real estate activities	68	27,044	6,839	29.3%
Other professional and technical activities	74	8,558	2,313	29.3%
Rental and leasing	77	1,174	302	28.1%
Construction of buildings	41	12,356	3,091	27.7%
Printing and reproduction	18	715	188	27.5%
Warehousing and support	52	1,076	261	26.8%
Furniture	31	607	151	26.7%
Civil engineering	42	1,346	335	26.7%
Repair and installation of machinery	33	2,017	508	26.2%
Architecture and engineering	71	5,111	1,283	26%
Public administration and defence	84	448	107	25.7%
Financial services	64	8,174	1,813	25.6%
Travel agencies	79	849	201	25.2%
Forestry and logging	02	535	126	25%
Social work	88	1,316	251	25%
Wearing apparel	14	267	61	24.2%
Telecommunications	61	750	166	23.9%
Waste collection and treatment	38	529	113	23.5%
Education	85	5,251	1,023	23.5%
Beverages	11	516	110	23%
Wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles	45	5,690	1,231	22.4%
Information services	63	1,297	254	21.5%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	2,939	559	21.5%
Food products	10	1,106	216	21.1%
Repair of computers and personal goods	95	325	68	21.1%
Motor vehicles and trailers	29	307	59	20.8%
Retail trade	47	14,043	2,749	20.5%
Security and investigation	80	764	149	20.1%
Veterinary activities	75	533	96	19.6%
Sports and recreation	93	4,392	713	19.6%
Motion picture and sound production	59	3,252	605	19.5%
Other personal service activities	96	8,285	1,515	19.4%
Land transport	49	3,222	595	19.3%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	11,969	2,192	19.1%
Specialised construction activities	43	17,303	3,203	19%
Human health activities	86	8,124	1,376	18.2%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	3,648	617	17.8%
Wood and wood products	16	938	158	17.2%
Employment activities	78	1,985	285	15.2%
Food and beverage service	56	9,165	1,297	14.9%
Advertising and market research	73	1,687	238	14.7%
Postal and courier activities	53	391	55	14.2%

By trade in South West

Trade	Companies	%
Landlords and property letting	15,100	31.7%
Management consultancy	13,500	33.8%
IT consultancy and support	8,520	20%
Business support services	7,888	32.8%
Property trading	7,271	22.5%
Property developers	6,972	31.1%
Restaurants and takeaways	5,798	12.5%
Building contractors	5,384	23.7%
Wellness and other personal services	5,228	24.4%
Other professional services	4,827	34%
Online and mail-order retail	4,415	16.4%
Physiotherapy and other health services	3,864	19.9%
Training providers and tutoring	3,705	22.8%
Film, TV, radio and music production	3,472	19.9%
Software development	3,449	16.8%
Engineering consultancy	3,347	25.9%
Property management	3,330	39.5%
Accountants and bookkeepers	3,270	35.2%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	3,251	24.6%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	3,243	17.1%
Electricians	3,227	13.8%
Garages and vehicle repair	3,161	20.7%
Performing arts	2,939	21.5%
Plumbing and heating engineers	2,917	15.4%
Plastering and building finishing	2,682	20.8%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	2,670	8.7%
Holiday lets, hostels and campsites	2,600	33.4%
Livestock farming	2,477	34.7%
GP and specialist medical practices	2,472	17.5%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	2,219	17.9%
Lenders and financial services	2,214	29.7%
Machinery repair and installation	2,017	26.2%
Recruitment agencies	1,985	15.2%
Road haulage	1,972	17.4%
Cleaning companies	1,931	15%
Design studios	1,916	14%
Pubs and bars	1,844	22.9%
Car and van dealers	1,794	23%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	1,687	14.7%
Wholesale agents and brokers	1,621	30.6%
Jewellery, toys and other manufacturing	1,570	35.9%
Insulation and other building installation	1,543	19.5%
Architects	1,536	24.9%
Event caterers and contract catering	1,523	15.2%
Publishers and news agencies	1,476	36.9%
Schools and colleges	1,377	26.2%
Power generation and supply	1,360	29.8%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	1,359	31.1%
Civil engineering contractors	1,346	26.7%
Estate agents	1,343	22.5%
Care homes	1,340	30.9%
Home care and social care	1,316	25%
Landscaping and gardening	1,277	17.9%
Hosting, data and web portals	1,274	21.4%
Metal fabrication	1,153	37.2%
Dental practices	1,150	16.6%
Amusement and leisure	1,149	26.5%
Hotels	1,141	37.3%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	1,078	19.8%
Painters and decorators	1,044	24.4%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	964	25.1%
Equipment and plant hire	962	28.4%
Sawmills and wood products	938	17.2%
Clothing and shoe shops	918	21.1%
Food and drink wholesalers	881	28.7%
Law firms	869	32.3%
Travel agents and tour operators	849	25.2%
Joiners and carpenters	846	16.1%
Roofers	846	17.1%
General wholesalers	831	36%
Arable farming	820	41%
Sports and toy shops	789	16.8%
Security services	764	20.1%
Telecoms providers	750	23.9%
Printers	715	27.5%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	697	26%
Waste management and recycling	680	24.9%
Taxi and private hire firms	679	19.2%
Vehicle, boat and transport equipment makers	640	25.8%
Private hospitals and clinics	638	13.6%
Food manufacturing	636	18%
Financial advisers and fund managers	635	28.4%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	633	37.4%
Photographers	611	18.1%
Furniture makers	607	26.7%
Furniture and homeware shops	596	31.4%
Textiles and clothing manufacturing	593	30.6%
Flooring and tiling	587	21.2%
Machinery manufacturing	586	45.2%
Insurance brokers	573	33.8%
Vehicle parts suppliers	538	25.7%
Forestry and logging	535	25%
Veterinary practices	533	19.6%
Office support and call centres	526	30.3%
Research and development	525	32.9%
Electronics manufacturing	523	42.4%
Breweries, distilleries and drinks makers	516	23%
Software and games publishers	499	14.4%
Machinery and equipment wholesalers	448	33.8%
Hardware and DIY shops	446	28.3%
Electronics and appliance shops	441	17.9%
Facilities management	440	34%
Plastics and rubber products	414	40.5%
Florists, garden centres and pet shops	392	21%
Couriers and postal services	391	14.2%
Electrical equipment manufacturing	381	39.1%
Warehousing and storage	379	28.3%
Market stalls	372	19.4%
Demolition and groundworks	360	23.1%
Fishing and fish farming	345	30.6%
Glass, ceramics and building materials	342	31.6%
Bus and coach operators	340	34.8%
Pharmacies and medical retail	330	21.3%
Chemicals manufacturing	304	37.8%
Event and conference organisers	294	16.2%
Machining and precision engineering	276	40.2%
Museums, heritage sites and zoos	271	58.2%
Bakeries	257	20.5%

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.