Business succession in South East

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

174,689 companies in South East — 37.1% — have a director aged 60 or over.

4.6 points above the UK average of 32.5%.

Companies measured471,121

Director aged 60+174,689

Exposure rate37.1%

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

471,121

Companies measured

174,689

With a director 60+

37.1%

Exposure rate

65,876

With a director 70+

Of the 174,689 with a director over 60, 9,083 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 South East

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	34,769	14,455	41.6%
Lettings	23,033	9,873	42.9%
Retail	22,490	6,015	26.7%
IT Services / Consultancy	20,955	5,392	25.7%
Investment	15,979	5,385	33.7%
Other Leisure	16,179	5,364	33.2%
Investment / Fund Management	10,874	4,380	40.3%
Property Development	8,999	4,170	46.3%
Media	11,415	3,602	31.6%
Engineering Services	8,644	3,555	41.1%
Management	7,491	3,391	45.3%
General Construction	9,518	3,000	31.5%
Other Specialist Trades	9,023	2,901	32.2%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	10,342	2,785	26.9%
Accounting / Audit	6,796	2,732	40.2%
Agriculture	4,963	2,670	53.8%
Software / SaaS	6,607	1,812	27.4%
Restaurant / Cafe	8,407	1,690	20.1%
Hotel / Accommodation	3,258	1,679	51.5%
Architecture / Design	6,029	1,661	27.6%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	4,910	1,502	30.6%
Marketing	5,401	1,397	25.9%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	3,072	1,308	42.6%
Electrical Installation	5,996	1,286	21.4%
Care Home / Nursing	3,670	1,277	34.8%
Vocational & Professional Training	3,620	1,275	35.2%
Education / Training (General)	3,451	1,246	36.1%
Recruitment / Staffing	5,558	1,240	22.3%
Plumbing, Heating & HVAC	5,696	1,200	21.1%
Wholesale Agent	2,663	1,071	40.2%
Electronics / Electrical	1,706	1,015	59.5%
Estate Agent	2,880	1,008	35%
Pub / Bar	2,703	998	36.9%
Commercial Cleaning	4,183	931	22.3%
Energy	2,537	908	35.8%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	3,410	905	26.5%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	2,960	897	30.3%
Passenger Transport	2,846	870	30.6%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	3,036	854	28.1%
Civil Engineering	2,595	849	32.7%
Catering / Events	3,331	834	25%
Road Freight	3,850	761	19.8%
Telecommunications	1,926	760	39.5%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	3,229	755	23.4%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	4,848	753	15.5%
Legal Services	1,847	732	39.6%
Fitness / Sports	2,820	716	25.4%
Arts / Entertainment	2,278	682	29.9%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	1,636	668	40.8%
Household Goods Wholesale	1,850	656	35.5%
Freight Forwarding & Support	1,649	610	37%
Joinery & Carpentry	2,841	570	20.1%
Security Services	1,926	563	29.2%
Travel / Tourism	1,567	553	35.3%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	1,408	551	39.1%
Precision Engineering / Machining	1,007	529	52.5%
Tutoring & Educational Support	1,760	527	29.9%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	965	501	51.9%
Dental Practice	2,320	460	19.8%
Roofing	1,927	441	22.9%
Equipment & Plant Hire	1,131	431	38.1%
Home Care / Domiciliary	1,115	404	36.2%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	574	391	68.1%
Painting & Decorating	1,471	382	26%
Facilities Management	846	376	44.4%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	651	356	54.7%
Plastics & Rubber Products	655	340	51.9%
Insurance	629	339	53.9%
Waste Management & Recycling	947	333	35.2%
Glazing & Windows	928	324	34.9%
Flooring & Tiling	1,217	313	25.7%
Motor Parts	768	305	39.7%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	673	297	44.1%
Print, Signage & Graphics	607	289	47.6%
Chemicals & Coatings	589	285	48.4%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	936	281	30%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	740	279	37.7%
Warehousing & Storage	529	240	45.4%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	676	235	34.8%
Events	743	232	31.2%
ICT Equipment Wholesale	562	221	39.3%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	663	217	32.7%
Wood & Timber Products	676	207	30.6%
Bakery / Confectionery	730	206	28.2%
Scaffolding	937	200	21.3%
Pet Care & Boarding	373	182	48.8%
Demolition & Site Prep	502	162	32.3%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	442	161	36.4%
Veterinary Practice	589	154	26.1%
Brewery / Drinks Manufacturing	345	132	38.3%
Distillery / Spirits	290	131	45.2%
Postal & Courier	852	129	15.1%
Plastering & Drylining	702	126	17.9%
Masonry & Stonework	516	119	23.1%
Pharmacy	352	94	26.7%
Photography	405	92	22.7%
Removals & Storage	427	89	20.8%
Driving Schools	310	84	27.1%

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 South East", UK Business Succession Index, 13 August 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/south-east/

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.