Business succession in Scotland

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

62,146 companies in Scotland (34.6%) have a director aged 60 or over.

2.2 points above the UK average of 32.4%.

Companies measured179,418

Director aged 60+62,146

Exposure rate34.6%

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

179,418

Companies measured

62,146

With a director 60+

34.6%

Exposure rate

21,471

With a director 70+

Of the 62,146 with a director over 60, 4,481 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 Scotland

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Lettings	10,889	4,028	37%
Consultancy Services	9,816	3,979	40.5%
Retail	10,652	2,697	25.3%
Agriculture	4,459	2,268	50.9%
Other Leisure	6,846	2,235	32.6%
Engineering Services	6,348	2,119	33.4%
Investment	6,355	2,115	33.3%
Investment / Fund Management	4,039	1,634	40.5%
Hotel / Accommodation	3,192	1,490	46.7%
Restaurant / Cafe	6,359	1,341	21.1%
Property Development	2,757	1,300	47.2%
Energy	2,445	1,179	48.2%
IT Services / Consultancy	4,537	1,116	24.6%
General Construction	2,583	1,046	40.5%
Media	2,853	916	32.1%
Other Specialist Trades	3,006	896	29.8%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	3,417	857	25.1%
Accounting / Audit	1,999	735	36.8%
Management	2,013	708	35.2%
Pub / Bar	1,676	705	42.1%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	2,273	682	30%
Passenger Transport	1,686	675	40%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,775	584	21%
Architecture / Design	1,915	569	29.7%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,206	501	41.5%
Plumbing & Heating	2,146	471	21.9%
Electrical Installation	2,374	460	19.4%
Vocational & Professional Training	1,228	460	37.5%
Software / SaaS	1,955	442	22.6%
Civil Engineering	1,245	429	34.5%
Wholesale Agent	979	422	43.1%
Road Freight	1,242	403	32.4%
Legal Services	848	384	45.3%
Catering / Events	1,537	379	24.7%
Education / Training (General)	1,136	369	32.5%
Commercial Cleaning	1,696	366	21.6%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	950	347	36.5%
Care Home / Nursing	739	334	45.2%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	873	334	38.3%
Arts / Entertainment	867	325	37.5%
Fitness / Sports	1,321	323	24.5%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	2,505	318	12.7%
Recruitment / Staffing	1,206	291	24.1%
Travel / Tourism	862	288	33.4%
Marketing	1,323	265	20%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	815	255	31.3%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,063	254	23.9%
Electronics / Electrical	459	248	54%
Equipment & Plant Hire	566	237	41.9%
Precision Engineering / Machining	502	232	46.2%
Distillery / Spirits	514	229	44.6%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	480	212	44.2%
Roofing	923	209	22.6%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	376	207	55.1%
Estate Agent	893	204	22.8%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	812	198	24.4%
Home Care / Domiciliary	389	186	47.8%
Painting & Decorating	680	184	27.1%
Telecommunications	497	176	35.4%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	523	162	31%
Security Services	535	159	29.7%
Waste Management & Recycling	403	157	39%
Household Goods Wholesale	559	157	28.1%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	351	142	40.5%
Bakery / Confectionery	466	142	30.5%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	371	142	38.3%
Freight Forwarding & Support	412	141	34.2%
Dental Practice	1,076	135	12.5%
Tutoring & Educational Support	447	134	30%
Wood & Timber Products	363	133	36.6%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	280	123	43.9%
Flooring & Tiling	448	120	26.8%
Chemicals & Coatings	298	119	39.9%
Glazing & Windows	254	113	44.5%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	289	96	33.2%
Facilities Management	272	94	34.6%
Motor Parts	295	88	29.8%
Scaffolding	287	82	28.6%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	317	79	24.9%
Pharmacy	308	77	25%
Veterinary Practice	283	72	25.4%
Postal & Courier	333	55	16.5%

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, 11 October 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/scotland/

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.