Business succession in Scotland

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

60,028 companies in Scotland — 34.8% — have a director aged 60 or over.

2.3 points above the UK average of 32.5%.

Companies measured172,432

Director aged 60+60,028

Exposure rate34.8%

Companies House register·Measured base 3,475,770·Data as at 13 August 2026·Full methodology

172,432

Companies measured

60,028

With a director 60+

34.8%

Exposure rate

20,765

With a director 70+

Of the 60,028 with a director over 60, 4,152 score 50 or higher on business quality — an output of our own scoring model, not a Companies House figure. How we score it.

By trade in Scotland

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Lettings	10,444	3,930	37.6%
Consultancy Services	9,549	3,898	40.8%
Retail	10,346	2,680	25.9%
Agriculture	4,398	2,266	51.5%
Other Leisure	6,856	2,250	32.8%
Investment	6,251	2,104	33.7%
Engineering Services	6,157	2,065	33.5%
Investment / Fund Management	3,698	1,505	40.7%
Hotel / Accommodation	3,075	1,447	47.1%
Restaurant / Cafe	6,062	1,295	21.4%
Property Development	2,687	1,249	46.5%
Energy	2,288	1,117	48.8%
IT Services / Consultancy	4,405	1,093	24.8%
General Construction	2,488	1,008	40.5%
Media	2,757	894	32.4%
Other Specialist Trades	2,923	886	30.3%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	3,277	805	24.6%
Accounting / Audit	1,951	726	37.2%
Pub / Bar	1,639	694	42.3%
Management	1,916	685	35.8%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	2,190	667	30.5%
Passenger Transport	1,638	656	40%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,736	586	21.4%
Architecture / Design	1,877	564	30%
Plumbing, Heating & HVAC	2,152	492	22.9%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,108	458	41.3%
Electrical Installation	2,314	455	19.7%
Software / SaaS	1,866	433	23.2%
Vocational & Professional Training	1,143	427	37.4%
Wholesale Agent	946	421	44.5%
Civil Engineering	1,196	415	34.7%
Road Freight	1,187	394	33.2%
Legal Services	831	383	46.1%
Catering / Events	1,482	368	24.8%
Commercial Cleaning	1,616	357	22.1%
Education / Training (General)	1,069	343	32.1%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	919	329	35.8%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	825	313	37.9%
Care Home / Nursing	691	312	45.2%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	2,390	312	13.1%
Fitness / Sports	1,220	299	24.5%
Recruitment / Staffing	1,151	281	24.4%
Travel / Tourism	827	276	33.4%
Arts / Entertainment	759	267	35.2%
Marketing	1,273	258	20.3%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,048	258	24.6%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	773	238	30.8%
Electronics / Electrical	423	228	53.9%
Equipment & Plant Hire	535	228	42.6%
Distillery / Spirits	472	217	46%
Precision Engineering / Machining	479	217	45.3%
Roofing	899	208	23.1%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	464	206	44.4%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	365	203	55.6%
Estate Agent	859	195	22.7%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	790	194	24.6%
Painting & Decorating	673	184	27.3%
Telecommunications	473	167	35.3%
Security Services	516	158	30.6%
Household Goods Wholesale	541	153	28.3%
Waste Management & Recycling	387	150	38.8%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	485	150	30.9%
Freight Forwarding & Support	392	138	35.2%
Bakery / Confectionery	445	137	30.8%
Home Care / Domiciliary	321	136	42.4%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	331	133	40.2%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	351	129	36.8%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	280	126	45%
Wood & Timber Products	345	123	35.7%
Tutoring & Educational Support	416	121	29.1%
Chemicals & Coatings	286	116	40.6%
Flooring & Tiling	431	113	26.2%
Dental Practice	1,017	113	11.1%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	288	96	33.3%
Motor Parts	291	93	32%
Facilities Management	257	85	33.1%
Scaffolding	280	81	28.9%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	309	78	25.2%
Pharmacy	289	73	25.3%
Veterinary Practice	278	73	26.3%
Postal & Courier	317	52	16.4%

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 Scotland", UK Business Succession Index, 13 August 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/scotland/

Need a cut that is not published here — 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 3,475,770 active UK companies where Companies House records an age bracket for at least one serving director — 93.8% of the 3,706,712 companies on the active register. A company counts as succession-exposed when its oldest serving director is 60 or over — not 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 13 August 2026; updated quarterly, next update October 2026. Full methodology.