Business succession in East of England

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

122,387 companies in East of England (33.5%) have a director aged 60 or over.

1.1 points above the UK average of 32.4%.

Companies measured365,052

Director aged 60+122,387

Exposure rate33.5%

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

365,052

Companies measured

122,387

With a director 60+

33.5%

Exposure rate

44,954

With a director 70+

Of the 122,387 with a director over 60, 7,573 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 of England

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	22,563	8,390	37.2%
Lettings	18,649	7,230	38.8%
Retail	18,088	4,241	23.4%
Investment	13,561	4,220	31.1%
Other Leisure	11,988	3,550	29.6%
Property Development	7,473	3,376	45.2%
Investment / Fund Management	9,010	3,351	37.2%
IT Services / Consultancy	13,465	3,100	23%
Agriculture	4,721	2,742	58.1%
Engineering Services	6,859	2,673	39%
General Construction	8,841	2,531	28.6%
Management	6,279	2,528	40.3%
Other Specialist Trades	8,525	2,297	26.9%
Media	7,325	2,064	28.2%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	7,846	1,878	23.9%
Accounting / Audit	5,053	1,771	35%
Restaurant / Cafe	6,615	1,185	17.9%
Hotel / Accommodation	2,438	1,154	47.3%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,941	1,111	28.2%
Electrical Installation	5,170	1,027	19.9%
Software / SaaS	4,232	1,021	24.1%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	2,523	998	39.6%
Architecture / Design	3,799	974	25.6%
Recruitment / Staffing	4,449	919	20.7%
Road Freight	5,244	919	17.5%
Care Home / Nursing	2,972	913	30.7%
Marketing	3,924	886	22.6%
Plumbing & Heating	4,328	858	19.8%
Wholesale Agent	2,390	853	35.7%
Vocational & Professional Training	2,731	845	30.9%
Education / Training (General)	2,567	836	32.6%
Pub / Bar	2,054	769	37.4%
Commercial Cleaning	3,512	737	21%
Energy	2,250	729	32.4%
Civil Engineering	2,394	716	29.9%
Electronics / Electrical	1,299	689	53%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	3,440	667	19.4%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	2,816	661	23.5%
Estate Agent	2,308	651	28.2%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	1,551	604	38.9%
Passenger Transport	2,008	578	28.8%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	2,147	576	26.8%
Catering / Events	2,549	574	22.5%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	1,361	541	39.8%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	3,823	526	13.8%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	2,165	511	23.6%
Household Goods Wholesale	1,606	511	31.8%
Fitness / Sports	2,212	491	22.2%
Legal Services	1,270	477	37.6%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	931	474	50.9%
Telecommunications	1,293	473	36.6%
Freight Forwarding & Support	1,436	467	32.5%
Precision Engineering / Machining	968	463	47.8%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,225	461	20.7%
Arts / Entertainment	1,661	456	27.5%
Security Services	1,690	449	26.6%
Roofing	1,445	378	26.2%
Home Care / Domiciliary	1,014	355	35%
Tutoring & Educational Support	1,361	352	25.9%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	779	347	44.5%
Equipment & Plant Hire	919	346	37.6%
Travel / Tourism	1,002	341	34%
Waste Management & Recycling	916	338	36.9%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	562	302	53.7%
Flooring & Tiling	1,144	277	24.2%
Dental Practice	1,273	277	21.8%
Motor Parts	814	276	33.9%
Painting & Decorating	1,162	274	23.6%
Insurance	494	273	55.3%
Facilities Management	673	273	40.6%
Plastics & Rubber Products	580	268	46.2%
Chemicals & Coatings	607	253	41.7%
Print, Signage & Graphics	505	250	49.5%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	765	237	31%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	366	230	62.8%
Glazing & Windows	721	226	31.3%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	621	226	36.4%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	616	220	35.7%
Warehousing & Storage	423	196	46.3%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	536	180	33.6%
Wood & Timber Products	550	175	31.8%
Scaffolding	808	174	21.5%
Bakery / Confectionery	601	168	28%
Demolition & Site Prep	517	161	31.1%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	376	134	35.6%
Veterinary Practice	438	132	30.1%
ICT Equipment Wholesale	400	128	32%
Events	444	126	28.4%
Pharmacy	329	122	37.1%
Plastering & Drylining	744	118	15.9%
Brewery / Drinks Manufacturing	253	108	42.7%
Pet Care & Boarding	254	97	38.2%
Masonry & Stonework	407	87	21.4%
Postal & Courier	607	85	14%
Driving Schools	305	85	27.9%
Removals	358	73	20.4%
Photography	323	60	18.6%

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 of England", UK Business Succession Index, 11 October 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/east-of-england/

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.