Business succession in London

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

259,442 companies in London (27%) have a director aged 60 or over.

5.4 points below the UK average of 32.4%.

Companies measured960,765

Director aged 60+259,442

Exposure rate27%

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

960,765

Companies measured

259,442

With a director 60+

27%

Exposure rate

93,006

With a director 70+

Of the 259,442 with a director over 60, 11,156 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 London

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Lettings	60,016	19,703	32.8%
Consultancy Services	65,071	17,832	27.4%
Investment	46,537	13,221	28.4%
Investment / Fund Management	33,222	10,973	33%
Media	32,507	9,157	28.2%
Other Leisure	34,217	8,944	26.1%
Retail	58,702	8,509	14.5%
IT Services / Consultancy	45,417	6,912	15.2%
Management	20,576	6,748	32.8%
Property Development	15,411	6,167	40%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	18,198	4,308	23.7%
Accounting / Audit	13,108	3,716	28.3%
Restaurant / Cafe	21,132	3,344	15.8%
Engineering Services	11,859	3,248	27.4%
General Construction	18,620	2,866	15.4%
Hotel / Accommodation	6,347	2,760	43.5%
Software / SaaS	18,376	2,756	15%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	6,736	2,530	37.6%
Care Home / Nursing	7,498	2,497	33.3%
Other Specialist Trades	13,525	2,481	18.3%
Marketing	14,212	2,340	16.5%
Education / Training (General)	7,762	2,239	28.8%
Architecture / Design	12,069	2,229	18.5%
Vocational & Professional Training	9,330	2,092	22.4%
Recruitment / Staffing	11,841	2,045	17.3%
Estate Agent	8,120	1,866	23%
Arts / Entertainment	7,354	1,827	24.8%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	7,317	1,755	24%
Energy	5,380	1,711	31.8%
Wholesale Agent	7,128	1,690	23.7%
Household Goods Wholesale	7,285	1,684	23.1%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	8,587	1,628	19%
Insurance	2,145	1,502	70%
Legal Services	5,212	1,484	28.5%
Catering / Events	7,837	1,324	16.9%
Commercial Cleaning	7,452	1,221	16.4%
Travel / Tourism	4,521	1,188	26.3%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	5,232	1,181	22.6%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	5,352	1,154	21.6%
Tutoring & Educational Support	6,034	1,125	18.6%
Electrical Installation	6,357	1,077	16.9%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	10,307	1,066	10.3%
Passenger Transport	4,977	1,015	20.4%
Home Care / Domiciliary	2,354	920	39.1%
Agriculture	2,285	880	38.5%
Pub / Bar	3,121	852	27.3%
Telecommunications	2,774	849	30.6%
Security Services	4,079	797	19.5%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,681	794	21.6%
Plumbing & Heating	5,402	757	14%
Fitness / Sports	4,162	752	18.1%
Freight Forwarding & Support	2,859	736	25.7%
Civil Engineering	3,061	715	23.4%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	4,055	614	15.1%
Dental Practice	3,545	594	16.8%
Road Freight	4,741	565	11.9%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	1,751	565	32.3%
Electronics / Electrical	1,582	556	35.1%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	1,689	480	28.4%
Facilities Management	1,512	452	29.9%
Events	1,471	396	26.9%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	2,083	392	18.8%
Pharmacy	1,122	392	34.9%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,630	376	14.3%
Painting & Decorating	2,512	368	14.6%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,730	363	21%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	1,192	331	27.8%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	1,533	324	21.1%
Chemicals & Coatings	1,112	319	28.7%
Equipment & Plant Hire	879	317	36.1%
Bakery / Confectionery	1,750	294	16.8%
Waste Management & Recycling	1,182	276	23.4%
Precision Engineering / Machining	623	274	44%
Roofing	1,428	256	17.9%
Flooring & Tiling	1,257	241	19.2%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	455	235	51.6%
Motor Parts	1,281	229	17.9%
ICT Equipment Wholesale	1,241	227	18.3%
Print, Signage & Graphics	540	214	39.6%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	679	209	30.8%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	712	208	29.2%
Glazing & Windows	882	207	23.5%
Postal & Courier	1,359	188	13.8%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	1,073	178	16.6%
Plastics & Rubber Products	478	171	35.8%
Warehousing & Storage	519	170	32.8%
Photography	655	140	21.4%
Demolition & Site Prep	633	122	19.3%
Distillery / Spirits	347	121	34.9%
Removals	955	121	12.7%
Textiles, Garments & Soft Furnishings	276	117	42.4%
Wood & Timber Products	558	114	20.4%
Scaffolding	684	112	16.4%
Agricultural Materials & Live Animals	409	110	26.9%
Brewery / Drinks Manufacturing	447	109	24.4%
Plastering & Drylining	944	100	10.6%
Meat Processing / Butchery	470	94	20%
Driving Schools	547	87	15.9%
Packaging Manufacturing	293	86	29.4%
Veterinary Practice	428	82	19.2%
Digital Agency	591	78	13.2%
Motorcycles	291	61	21%
Masonry & Stonework	303	60	19.8%

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 London", UK Business Succession Index, 11 October 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/london/

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.