Business succession index · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Business succession in Wales

Of 86,523 active companies in Wales, 22.2% have a youngest owner aged 60 or over (United Kingdom: 20.8%).

86,523

Active companies

22.2%

Youngest owner 60+

20.8%

United Kingdom average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	Owner 60+	%
Fabricated metal products	25	590	203	37.9%
Scientific research and development	72	261	77	34.2%
Other manufacturing	32	679	200	33.6%
Residential care	87	595	170	32.9%
Crop and animal production	01	1,263	369	31.5%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning	35	388	86	31.4%
Accommodation	55	1,722	488	31.3%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	3,720	1,065	29.9%
Legal and accounting activities	69	1,610	463	29.7%
Other professional and technical activities	74	2,639	723	29.4%
Office administrative and support	82	3,040	778	28.1%
Architecture and engineering	71	1,783	459	26.5%
Civil engineering	42	905	230	26.2%
Membership organisations	94	517	79	25.9%
Construction of buildings	41	4,320	1,020	25.7%
Wholesale trade	46	2,430	592	25.7%
Printing and reproduction	18	272	65	25.4%
Auxiliary financial services	66	491	113	24.7%
Repair and installation of machinery	33	1,026	244	24.6%
Telecommunications	61	289	66	24.4%
Rental and leasing	77	541	122	24.4%
Publishing	58	533	122	24.3%
Travel agencies	79	313	73	24.1%
Real estate activities	68	10,154	2,225	23.8%
Waste collection and treatment	38	335	72	23.6%
Warehousing and support	52	476	102	23.3%
Financial services	64	2,667	529	22.7%
Food products	10	493	102	22.6%
Wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles	45	2,467	527	21.9%
Land transport	49	1,491	305	21.3%
Education	85	1,986	342	20.1%
Sports and recreation	93	1,973	317	20%
Social work	88	621	98	19.7%
Security and investigation	80	377	70	19%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	1,024	163	18.9%
Wood and wood products	16	351	62	18.8%
Human health activities	86	3,456	606	18.4%
Motion picture and sound production	59	1,386	226	18%
Specialised construction activities	43	6,794	1,177	17.7%
Retail trade	47	6,183	1,058	17.7%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	3,268	547	17.5%
Other personal service activities	96	3,707	615	17.5%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	1,296	211	16.8%
Food and beverage service	56	4,460	583	13.8%
Information services	63	419	50	13.8%
Employment activities	78	662	80	13.3%
Advertising and market research	73	550	46	8.6%

By trade in Wales

Trade	Companies	%
Landlords and property letting	5,506	27.6%
Management consultancy	3,720	29.9%
Property trading	3,429	15.9%
Restaurants and takeaways	3,008	10.8%
Business support services	2,744	28.8%
Property developers	2,264	27.9%
IT consultancy and support	2,240	18.1%
Wellness and other personal services	2,170	22.8%
Building contractors	2,056	23.3%
Online and mail-order retail	1,852	11.8%
Other professional services	1,671	31.8%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	1,557	19%
Film, TV, radio and music production	1,516	18.3%
Training providers and tutoring	1,496	18.7%
Physiotherapy and other health services	1,472	21.1%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	1,451	22.8%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	1,349	7.1%
Electricians	1,309	14.1%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	1,298	14.1%
Garages and vehicle repair	1,265	20.9%
Engineering consultancy	1,219	25.9%
Holiday lets, hostels and campsites	1,203	30.4%
Accountants and bookkeepers	1,201	32.6%
Plumbing and heating engineers	1,061	13.7%
GP and specialist medical practices	1,046	18.8%
Software development	1,028	16.1%
Machinery repair and installation	1,026	24.6%
Performing arts	1,024	18.9%
Livestock farming	1,019	31.3%
Plastering and building finishing	929	20.5%
Civil engineering contractors	905	26.2%
Road haulage	887	20.4%
Car and van dealers	877	22.3%
Lenders and financial services	852	22.8%
Pubs and bars	847	24.6%
Property management	789	29.7%
Cleaning companies	748	11.8%
Wholesale agents and brokers	690	25.4%
Insulation and other building installation	680	12.2%
Recruitment agencies	662	13.3%
Dental practices	645	14.2%
Home care and social care	621	19.7%
Event caterers and contract catering	605	14.2%
Jewellery, toys and other manufacturing	599	33.5%
Care homes	595	32.9%
Metal fabrication	578	38.7%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	550	8.6%
Hotels	519	33.3%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	473	29.3%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	459	17.9%
Schools and colleges	431	23.9%
Design studios	431	14.8%
Estate agents	430	29.2%
Architects	430	28.8%
Equipment and plant hire	428	25.6%
Waste management and recycling	419	25.2%
Amusement and leisure	416	23.5%
Law firms	409	21.1%
Hosting, data and web portals	408	14.2%
Landscaping and gardening	404	20.7%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	389	23.5%
Power generation and supply	388	31.4%
Publishers and news agencies	388	28.7%
Food and drink wholesalers	380	19.8%
Clothing and shoe shops	379	18.5%
Painters and decorators	379	21.1%
Security services	377	19%
General wholesalers	354	25.7%
Sawmills and wood products	351	18.8%
Roofers	327	16.4%
Travel agents and tour operators	313	24.1%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	308	25%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	303	28.3%
Joiners and carpenters	301	19.5%
Private hospitals and clinics	293	13.1%
Taxi and private hire firms	290	19.9%
Telecoms providers	289	24.4%
Printers	272	25.4%
Research and development	261	34.2%
Vehicle parts suppliers	258	22.7%
Sports and toy shops	256	16.1%
Financial advisers and fund managers	256	19.9%

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.