Business succession in South West

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

106,752 companies in South West — 40.8% — have a director aged 60 or over.

8.3 points above the UK average of 32.5%.

Companies measured261,877

Director aged 60+106,752

Exposure rate40.8%

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

261,877

Companies measured

106,752

With a director 60+

40.8%

Exposure rate

43,254

With a director 70+

Of the 106,752 with a director over 60, 6,072 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 West

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	15,499	6,658	43%
Lettings	13,614	6,114	44.9%
Retail	13,235	4,239	32%
Other Leisure	8,679	3,124	36%
Agriculture	4,884	2,777	56.9%
Property Development	5,640	2,716	48.2%
Investment	7,125	2,685	37.7%
Investment / Fund Management	6,178	2,473	40%
IT Services / Consultancy	8,667	2,379	27.4%
Management	4,319	2,247	52%
Engineering Services	5,376	2,127	39.6%
General Construction	5,699	2,116	37.1%
Hotel / Accommodation	3,661	1,921	52.5%
Media	5,263	1,805	34.3%
Other Specialist Trades	4,744	1,606	33.9%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	5,386	1,563	29%
Accounting / Audit	3,466	1,484	42.8%
Restaurant / Cafe	5,471	1,267	23.2%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,156	1,012	32.1%
Software / SaaS	3,416	949	27.8%
Energy	2,093	937	44.8%
Architecture / Design	3,398	919	27%
Vocational & Professional Training	2,105	850	40.4%
Pub / Bar	2,084	843	40.5%
Care Home / Nursing	1,909	752	39.4%
Plumbing, Heating & HVAC	3,063	751	24.5%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,923	750	39%
Education / Training (General)	1,843	748	40.6%
Electrical Installation	3,247	725	22.3%
Marketing	2,520	686	27.2%
Wholesale Agent	1,355	598	44.1%
Civil Engineering	1,542	584	37.9%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	1,649	577	35%
Commercial Cleaning	2,241	562	25.1%
Passenger Transport	1,264	520	41.1%
Recruitment / Staffing	2,275	506	22.2%
Estate Agent	1,502	505	33.6%
Electronics / Electrical	878	500	56.9%
Catering / Events	1,879	490	26.1%
Arts / Entertainment	1,286	481	37.4%
Fitness / Sports	1,675	477	28.5%
Road Freight	1,870	469	25.1%
Legal Services	1,054	461	43.7%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	1,490	455	30.5%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,617	446	27.6%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	2,522	421	16.7%
Precision Engineering / Machining	767	410	53.5%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	822	391	47.6%
Joinery & Carpentry	1,787	387	21.7%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	792	346	43.7%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	1,421	345	24.3%
Household Goods Wholesale	877	326	37.2%
Tutoring & Educational Support	870	313	36%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	583	309	53%
Roofing	1,096	308	28.1%
Equipment & Plant Hire	743	308	41.5%
Dental Practice	1,175	300	25.5%
Security Services	926	294	31.7%
Travel / Tourism	781	293	37.5%
Telecommunications	798	291	36.5%
Plastics & Rubber Products	439	267	60.8%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	540	264	48.9%
Home Care / Domiciliary	613	256	41.8%
Freight Forwarding & Support	655	248	37.9%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	357	246	68.9%
Waste Management & Recycling	593	234	39.5%
Painting & Decorating	721	221	30.7%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	415	218	52.5%
Wood & Timber Products	538	212	39.4%
Flooring & Tiling	715	206	28.8%
Motor Parts	517	202	39.1%
Facilities Management	389	202	51.9%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	507	201	39.6%
Chemicals & Coatings	366	195	53.3%
Bakery / Confectionery	515	192	37.3%
Warehousing & Storage	385	184	47.8%
Print, Signage & Graphics	378	177	46.8%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	483	175	36.2%
Scaffolding	530	174	32.8%
Insurance	318	167	52.5%
Glazing & Windows	440	165	37.5%
Veterinary Practice	599	156	26%
Brewery / Drinks Manufacturing	320	143	44.7%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	356	131	36.8%
Demolition & Site Prep	365	121	33.2%
Events	395	118	29.9%
Masonry & Stonework	351	80	22.8%
Plastering & Drylining	491	80	16.3%
Postal & Courier	354	71	20.1%

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

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.