UK Companies House Insights: Fastest Growing Sectors for New Firms

By the end of 2025, the latest annual picture of UK business creation shows a steady flow of new firms and a clear set of “hot” sectors for entry. In 2024 there were 317,000 UK business births (an 11.1% birth rate) and 280,000 business deaths (a 9.8% death rate). Transport and storage had the highest birth rate at 15.6%, and it also had the highest death rate at 16.5%, which signals a high-churn sector. The UK also recorded 14,330 high-growth businesses (by employment) in 2024, with a 4.9% high-growth rate, the highest since 2018. Source: ONS Business demography, UK: 2024

What “new firms” means, and why the data sources do not match exactly

ONS Business Demography

The ONS Business Demography release measures births and deaths of UK enterprises on the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). It covers the whole economy and supports comparisons like birth rates by industry group.

Companies House Free Company Data Product

Companies House data is about company registrations on the public register. The free company data product is a monthly snapshot of live companies, compiled to the end of the previous month and published within 5 working days. It includes key fields you can use for sector analysis, such as incorporation date, company status, and up to four SIC codes. Source: Companies House data products (GOV.UK)

Why this matters: ONS “enterprise births” and Companies House “incorporations” are related but not identical. Use ONS for official, comparable industry trends. Use Companies House for near real-time signals, especially when you want to zoom into specific SIC codes.

Fastest growing sectors for new firms at end of 2025, two useful rankings

People search “fastest growing sectors” in two different ways:

• Highest birth rate: where new firms form most quickly relative to the sector’s existing base.
• Highest birth count: where the largest number of new firms are being created.

Ranking 1: Sectors with the highest business birth rates (2024)

These are the broad industry groups with the highest birth rates in 2024:

• Transport and storage (including postal): 15.6%
• Accommodation and food services: 14.9%
• Business administration and support services: 14.4%
• Retail: 11.4%

High birth rates often mean low barriers to entry, strong demand for flexible services, or rapid business model change. They can also mean tougher competition, because lots of new firms are entering at the same time.

Ranking 2: Sectors creating the most new firms (2024)

Using ONS counts of business births by broad industry group, these sectors generated the biggest volumes of new firms in 2024:

• Professional, scientific and technical: 48,970 births (about 15.4% of all births)
• Construction: 44,955 births (about 14.2%)
• Business administration and support services: 38,610 births (about 12.2%)
• Accommodation and food services: 30,360 births (about 9.6%)
• Retail: 27,385 births (about 8.6%)

These percentages are calculated from the ONS total births figure and the (ONS-rounded) industry birth counts, so treat them as approximations, not exact market shares. For the full tables and detailed industry breakdowns, use the ONS dataset pages. Source: ONS Business demography dataset

The short list: sectors that look strongest for new firm creation

If you want a practical “where are people starting businesses now?” view, focus on sectors that rank high on both birth rate and birth count:

• Business administration and support services: high birth rate (14.4%) and high birth count (38,610).
• Accommodation and food services: high birth rate (14.9%) and solid birth count (30,360).
• Retail: above-average birth rate (11.4%) and high birth count (27,385).

Transport and storage has the highest birth rate, but it also has the highest death rate. That does not make it “bad”, it makes it competitive and operationally demanding.

How to use Companies House data to track 2025 sector momentum (without waiting for annual ONS updates)

ONS gives you the official annual benchmark, but Companies House can help you spot faster shifts by SIC code. The free company data product includes IncorporationDate, CompanyStatus, and up to four SICCode fields. Source: Companies House Free Data Product, data fields

A simple approach:

• Download the latest monthly snapshot ZIP from Companies House.
• Filter to companies with IncorporationDate in the last 3, 6, or 12 months.
• Group by SIC code (or map SIC codes to higher-level sectors).
• Compare month-on-month counts to find which SIC areas are accelerating.

To pick the right codes, use the Companies House condensed SIC list, which is what companies file against. Source: Companies House condensed SIC code list

What the 2024 patterns imply for 2026 searchers

• Expect crowding in “easy-entry” sectors. High birth rates usually mean lots of new competitors. Your advantage comes from speed, local focus, or a clear niche.
• Watch churn, not just growth. Transport and storage can look attractive on birth rates alone, but the high death rate signals risk and fast turnover.
• Professional services remains a volume engine. It produced the largest count of new firms in 2024, which often links to specialist, small-team models.
• Use Companies House for early signals. If you are making a 2026 decision, track incorporations by SIC through 2025 and early 2026 to see whether momentum is rising or fading in your niche.

Conclusion: key takeaways

• At end of 2025, the latest annual data shows UK business births broadly flat (317,000 in 2024) and deaths down (280,000 in 2024), which widens the gap between births and deaths.
• Fast entry sectors by birth rate include transport and storage, accommodation and food, and business administration and support services.
• Big “new firm” sectors by volume include professional, scientific and technical, construction, and business administration and support services.
• Use ONS for the official sector benchmark, and Companies House for near real-time SIC-level direction.