Business succession in East Midlands

Name: Business succession in East Midlands
Creator: ExitRadar
License: https://www.exitradar.co.uk/terms

69,361 companies in East Midlands (32.9%) have a director aged 60 or over.

0.5 points above the UK average of 32.4%.

Companies measured210,719

Director aged 60+69,361

Exposure rate32.9%

Companies House register·Measured base 3,631,842·Data as at 11 October 2026·Full methodology

210,719

Companies measured

69,361

With a director 60+

32.9%

Exposure rate

24,045

With a director 70+

Of the 69,361 with a director over 60, 4,837 score 50 or higher on business quality. That figure is an output of our own scoring model, not a Companies House figure. How we score it.

By trade in East Midlands

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	11,626	4,554	39.2%
Lettings	12,656	4,504	35.6%
Retail	12,213	3,005	24.6%
Investment	7,831	2,192	28%
Other Leisure	6,837	2,143	31.3%
Investment / Fund Management	5,864	2,131	36.3%
Agriculture	3,288	1,927	58.6%
Engineering Services	4,557	1,733	38%
Property Development	3,948	1,618	41%
IT Services / Consultancy	5,967	1,503	25.2%
General Construction	4,270	1,240	29%
Other Specialist Trades	4,087	1,228	30%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	4,856	1,130	23.3%
Management	3,096	1,015	32.8%
Accounting / Audit	2,666	958	35.9%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,054	825	27%
Road Freight	4,712	817	17.3%
Hotel / Accommodation	1,744	763	43.8%
Restaurant / Cafe	4,433	754	17%
Care Home / Nursing	2,520	693	27.5%
Media	2,603	691	26.5%
Pub / Bar	1,808	673	37.2%
Electrical Installation	2,993	637	21.3%
Wholesale Agent	1,443	567	39.3%
Architecture / Design	2,142	565	26.4%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,449	521	36%
Plumbing & Heating	2,364	517	21.9%
Vocational & Professional Training	1,594	509	31.9%
Software / SaaS	2,079	503	24.2%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	2,197	495	22.5%
Education / Training (General)	1,526	495	32.4%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	1,930	491	25.4%
Energy	1,364	470	34.5%
Civil Engineering	1,442	467	32.4%
Precision Engineering / Machining	884	451	51%
Household Goods Wholesale	1,130	426	37.7%
Recruitment / Staffing	2,010	412	20.5%
Marketing	1,810	408	22.5%
Commercial Cleaning	1,823	389	21.3%
Electronics / Electrical	713	387	54.3%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	1,013	384	37.9%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	2,528	367	14.5%
Catering / Events	1,552	355	22.9%
Passenger Transport	1,031	340	33%
Joinery & Carpentry	1,458	336	23%
Fitness / Sports	1,291	330	25.6%
Estate Agent	1,166	328	28.1%
Legal Services	894	315	35.2%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	615	295	48%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,149	289	25.2%
Plastics & Rubber Products	547	288	52.7%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	605	279	46.1%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	498	252	50.6%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	885	242	27.3%
Motor Parts	654	241	36.9%
Equipment & Plant Hire	569	241	42.4%
Security Services	876	240	27.4%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	686	238	34.7%
Home Care / Domiciliary	678	225	33.2%
Arts / Entertainment	742	224	30.2%
Roofing	879	223	25.4%
Telecommunications	707	223	31.5%
Tutoring & Educational Support	822	222	27%
Waste Management & Recycling	575	207	36%
Freight Forwarding & Support	851	202	23.7%
Print, Signage & Graphics	426	188	44.1%
Chemicals & Coatings	360	177	49.2%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	554	174	31.4%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	260	171	65.8%
Insurance	306	164	53.6%
Dental Practice	986	163	16.5%
Wood & Timber Products	388	161	41.5%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	377	152	40.3%
Glazing & Windows	400	150	37.5%
Travel / Tourism	512	150	29.3%
Machinery & Industrial Equipment	261	150	57.5%
Painting & Decorating	572	147	25.7%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	362	141	39%
Flooring & Tiling	579	140	24.2%
Warehousing & Storage	365	111	30.4%
Bakery / Confectionery	407	106	26%
Facilities Management	290	103	35.5%
Demolition & Site Prep	299	89	29.8%
Events	262	89	34%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	318	85	26.7%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	254	78	30.7%
Veterinary Practice	268	72	26.9%
Scaffolding	312	65	20.8%
Pharmacy	284	65	22.9%
Postal & Courier	680	62	9.1%
Masonry & Stonework	281	50	17.8%
Plastering & Drylining	374	49	13.1%

Combinations with fewer than 250 measured companies are not listed separately. They are still counted in every total on this page.

Compare with the national index or another region.

Cite this page

These figures are free to quote and reproduce, including in commercial work, with attribution to ExitRadar and a link to this page.

ExitRadar, "Business succession in East Midlands", UK Business Succession Index, 11 October 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/east-midlands/

Need a cut that is not published here, such as a different trade grouping, a finer geography or the underlying distribution? Get in touch and we will usually provide it. Methodology.

Method. Figures cover the 3,631,842 active UK companies where Companies House records an age bracket for at least one serving director (94.0% of the 3,863,328 companies on the active register). A company counts as succession-exposed when its oldest serving director is 60 or over. We do not use the board average, which would hide a 70-year-old founder sitting alongside younger co-directors. The business-quality figure covers only the subset our model assesses; see the methodology for why that is far smaller than the number with filed accounts. Data as at 11 October 2026; updated quarterly, next update January 2027. Full methodology.