Business succession in North West

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

110,422 companies in North West (30.7%) have a director aged 60 or over.

1.7 points below the UK average of 32.4%.

Companies measured359,693

Director aged 60+110,422

Exposure rate30.7%

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

359,693

Companies measured

110,422

With a director 60+

30.7%

Exposure rate

37,393

With a director 70+

Of the 110,422 with a director over 60, 6,901 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 North West

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	21,114	7,211	34.2%
Lettings	21,545	7,190	33.4%
Retail	23,417	4,765	20.3%
Investment	14,554	3,732	25.6%
Investment / Fund Management	9,768	3,512	36%
Other Leisure	12,465	3,449	27.7%
Engineering Services	8,133	2,931	36%
Property Development	6,379	2,398	37.6%
IT Services / Consultancy	11,031	2,207	20%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	9,400	2,069	22%
Management	5,923	2,068	34.9%
Other Specialist Trades	6,054	1,741	28.8%
General Construction	5,498	1,694	30.8%
Accounting / Audit	4,482	1,548	34.5%
Hotel / Accommodation	3,615	1,418	39.2%
Agriculture	2,875	1,414	49.2%
Restaurant / Cafe	7,895	1,354	17.2%
Media	4,927	1,193	24.2%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,931	1,134	28.8%
Road Freight	4,025	989	24.6%
Care Home / Nursing	3,107	953	30.7%
Pub / Bar	2,917	945	32.4%
Electrical Installation	4,084	870	21.3%
Wholesale Agent	2,455	849	34.6%
Education / Training (General)	2,780	847	30.5%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	4,028	829	20.6%
Household Goods Wholesale	2,633	819	31.1%
Vocational & Professional Training	2,774	813	29.3%
Architecture / Design	3,226	805	25%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	2,231	792	35.5%
Software / SaaS	4,009	787	19.6%
Energy	2,222	731	32.9%
Plumbing & Heating	3,339	699	20.9%
Marketing	3,879	694	17.9%
Civil Engineering	2,417	686	28.4%
Legal Services	2,209	672	30.4%
Commercial Cleaning	2,939	645	21.9%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	2,784	638	22.9%
Recruitment / Staffing	3,826	637	16.6%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	2,006	611	30.5%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,536	598	23.6%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	4,714	573	12.2%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	2,484	571	23%
Catering / Events	2,449	540	22%
Precision Engineering / Machining	1,008	527	52.3%
Electronics / Electrical	941	523	55.6%
Fitness / Sports	2,282	508	22.3%
Estate Agent	1,962	507	25.8%
Passenger Transport	1,526	491	32.2%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	1,074	459	42.7%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	1,391	437	31.4%
Security Services	1,653	427	25.8%
Plastics & Rubber Products	685	386	56.4%
Arts / Entertainment	1,477	385	26.1%
Tutoring & Educational Support	1,451	370	25.5%
Waste Management & Recycling	967	369	38.2%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,582	362	22.9%
Home Care / Domiciliary	967	356	36.8%
Chemicals & Coatings	710	356	50.1%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	815	355	43.6%
Freight Forwarding & Support	1,194	352	29.5%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	1,114	334	30%
Travel / Tourism	1,155	334	28.9%
Motor Parts	984	333	33.8%
Telecommunications	1,186	330	27.8%
Equipment & Plant Hire	902	324	35.9%
Dental Practice	2,059	294	14.3%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	410	290	70.7%
Roofing	1,312	287	21.9%
Painting & Decorating	873	267	30.6%
Flooring & Tiling	884	261	29.5%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	557	259	46.5%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	765	200	26.1%
Insurance	407	194	47.7%
Wood & Timber Products	461	193	41.9%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	632	191	30.2%
Print, Signage & Graphics	453	188	41.5%
Bakery / Confectionery	652	182	27.9%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	510	180	35.3%
Glazing & Windows	494	177	35.8%
Warehousing & Storage	404	177	43.8%
Funeral Services	292	158	54.1%
Facilities Management	502	154	30.7%
Machinery & Industrial Equipment	265	152	57.4%
Demolition & Site Prep	423	150	35.5%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	599	149	24.9%
Pharmacy	705	126	17.9%
Postal & Courier	737	122	16.6%
Veterinary Practice	868	119	13.7%
Events	459	110	24%
ICT Equipment Wholesale	536	110	20.5%
Meat Processing / Butchery	272	106	39%
Scaffolding	464	99	21.3%
Brewery / Drinks Manufacturing	261	99	37.9%
Driving Schools	287	80	27.9%
Plastering & Drylining	572	77	13.5%
Photography	291	62	21.3%
Masonry & Stonework	262	54	20.6%
Removals	258	42	16.3%

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 North West", UK Business Succession Index, 11 October 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/north-west/

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.