Business succession in West Midlands

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

80,574 companies in West Midlands — 30.9% — have a director aged 60 or over.

1.6 points below the UK average of 32.5%.

Companies measured260,982

Director aged 60+80,574

Exposure rate30.9%

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

260,982

Companies measured

80,574

With a director 60+

30.9%

Exposure rate

28,615

With a director 70+

Of the 80,574 with a director over 60, 4,816 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 West Midlands

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Consultancy Services	13,157	5,026	38.2%
Lettings	14,418	4,854	33.7%
Retail	17,057	3,544	20.8%
Investment	10,863	2,985	27.5%
Investment / Fund Management	6,863	2,542	37%
Other Leisure	7,949	2,403	30.2%
Property Development	4,608	1,996	43.3%
Engineering Services	4,988	1,859	37.3%
IT Services / Consultancy	7,849	1,647	21%
General Construction	4,848	1,457	30.1%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	6,215	1,358	21.9%
Other Specialist Trades	4,567	1,314	28.8%
Management	4,028	1,271	31.6%
Agriculture	2,449	1,254	51.2%
Accounting / Audit	3,510	1,187	33.8%
Precision Engineering / Machining	1,684	944	56.1%
Media	3,303	935	28.3%
Restaurant / Cafe	5,870	893	15.2%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,458	888	25.7%
Care Home / Nursing	3,146	859	27.3%
Road Freight	5,088	786	15.4%
Hotel / Accommodation	1,900	754	39.7%
Wholesale Agent	2,672	734	27.5%
Electrical Installation	3,084	694	22.5%
Pub / Bar	2,013	667	33.1%
Architecture / Design	2,257	638	28.3%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,552	623	40.1%
Plumbing, Heating & HVAC	2,690	611	22.7%
Vocational & Professional Training	2,019	607	30.1%
Education / Training (General)	1,948	601	30.9%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	2,889	596	20.6%
Software / SaaS	2,688	574	21.4%
Civil Engineering	1,594	534	33.5%
Recruitment / Staffing	3,023	530	17.5%
Energy	1,497	515	34.4%
Marketing	2,352	510	21.7%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	2,360	504	21.4%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	1,645	502	30.5%
Commercial Cleaning	2,122	458	21.6%
Household Goods Wholesale	1,539	452	29.4%
Electronics / Electrical	1,066	441	41.4%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	962	435	45.2%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	926	427	46.1%
Catering / Events	2,015	401	19.9%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	3,062	398	13%
Legal Services	1,234	389	31.5%
Estate Agent	1,522	360	23.7%
Plastics & Rubber Products	672	357	53.1%
Fitness / Sports	1,367	356	26%
Passenger Transport	1,258	349	27.7%
Security Services	1,171	311	26.6%
Waste Management & Recycling	734	297	40.5%
Motor Parts	1,072	296	27.6%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	1,205	296	24.6%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,152	294	25.5%
Joinery & Carpentry	1,250	291	23.3%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	991	282	28.5%
Tutoring & Educational Support	1,180	275	23.3%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	571	274	48%
Roofing	934	267	28.6%
Telecommunications	919	252	27.4%
Equipment & Plant Hire	697	250	35.9%
Arts / Entertainment	914	245	26.8%
Chemicals & Coatings	637	241	37.8%
Home Care / Domiciliary	713	240	33.7%
Travel / Tourism	781	221	28.3%
Freight Forwarding & Support	1,059	214	20.2%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	296	211	71.3%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	702	186	26.5%
Print, Signage & Graphics	402	185	46%
Flooring & Tiling	684	184	26.9%
Painting & Decorating	581	179	30.8%
Wood & Timber Products	485	172	35.5%
Glazing & Windows	526	162	30.8%
Facilities Management	426	153	35.9%
Dental Practice	1,104	151	13.7%
Machinery & Industrial Equipment	251	146	58.2%
Insurance	278	141	50.7%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	443	133	30%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	420	130	31%
Warehousing & Storage	343	125	36.4%
Pharmacy	526	123	23.4%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	563	116	20.6%
Events	340	116	34.1%
Bakery / Confectionery	515	113	21.9%
Demolition & Site Prep	353	96	27.2%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	361	88	24.4%
Postal & Courier	651	81	12.4%
Veterinary Practice	270	80	29.6%
ICT Equipment Wholesale	352	79	22.4%
Plastering & Drylining	419	76	18.1%
Scaffolding	296	72	24.3%

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

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.