Business succession in Yorkshire & The Humber

Name: Business succession in Yorkshire & The Humber
Creator: ExitRadar
License: https://www.exitradar.co.uk/terms

73,707 companies in Yorkshire & The Humber — 32.8% — have a director aged 60 or over.

0.3 points above the UK average of 32.5%.

Companies measured224,725

Director aged 60+73,707

Exposure rate32.8%

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

224,725

Companies measured

73,707

With a director 60+

32.8%

Exposure rate

25,435

With a director 70+

Of the 73,707 with a director over 60, 4,629 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 Yorkshire & The Humber

Trade	Companies	60+	Rate
Lettings	12,908	4,682	36.3%
Consultancy Services	11,654	4,374	37.5%
Retail	14,352	3,302	23%
Investment	8,001	2,335	29.2%
Other Leisure	7,294	2,227	30.5%
Investment / Fund Management	5,758	2,124	36.9%
Engineering Services	4,548	1,736	38.2%
Agriculture	2,889	1,667	57.7%
Property Development	4,052	1,621	40%
IT Services / Consultancy	5,982	1,355	22.7%
General Construction	4,002	1,344	33.6%
Specialist Clinics / Allied Health	5,998	1,330	22.2%
Other Specialist Trades	4,351	1,297	29.8%
Management	3,355	1,197	35.7%
Hotel / Accommodation	2,114	960	45.4%
Accounting / Audit	2,736	939	34.3%
Restaurant / Cafe	5,496	931	16.9%
Pub / Bar	2,503	875	35%
Media	3,046	811	26.6%
Vehicle Repair & MOT	3,025	795	26.3%
Road Freight	3,529	762	21.6%
Electrical Installation	3,177	647	20.4%
Wholesale Agent	1,452	623	42.9%
Care Home / Nursing	1,912	620	32.4%
Education / Training (General)	1,717	569	33.1%
Plumbing, Heating & HVAC	2,715	555	20.4%
Architecture / Design	2,338	547	23.4%
Vocational & Professional Training	1,639	542	33.1%
Motor Vehicle Dealers	2,265	540	23.8%
Financial Advisory / Wealth	1,496	522	34.9%
Software / SaaS	2,230	522	23.4%
Precision Engineering / Machining	1,034	502	48.5%
Energy	1,417	488	34.4%
Civil Engineering	1,467	473	32.2%
Marketing	2,219	462	20.8%
Joinery & Carpentry	1,956	458	23.4%
Medical Practice / GP Surgery	2,307	457	19.8%
Commercial Cleaning	1,999	425	21.3%
Recruitment / Staffing	2,402	417	17.4%
Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals)	898	397	44.2%
Household Goods Wholesale	1,129	382	33.8%
Beauty / Salon / Spa	2,818	371	13.2%
Electronics / Electrical	670	366	54.6%
Fitness / Sports	1,389	364	26.2%
Metal Fabrication / Structures	760	361	47.5%
Catering / Events	1,514	333	22%
Legal Services	1,039	324	31.2%
Estate Agent	1,285	320	24.9%
Non-Specialised Wholesale	943	308	32.7%
Passenger Transport	1,069	293	27.4%
Equipment & Plant Hire	656	270	41.2%
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Wholesale	794	257	32.4%
Waste Management & Recycling	660	252	38.2%
Data / Cloud / Hosting	1,056	250	23.7%
Tutoring & Educational Support	836	247	29.5%
Telecommunications	836	241	28.8%
Plastics & Rubber Products	463	235	50.8%
Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance	1,030	234	22.7%
Security Services	944	231	24.5%
Roofing	967	230	23.8%
Arts / Entertainment	822	230	28%
Freight Forwarding & Support	769	225	29.3%
Motor Parts	742	220	29.6%
Chemicals & Coatings	459	216	47.1%
Machinery & Equipment Wholesale	429	216	50.3%
Childcare / Day Nurseries	592	201	34%
Travel / Tourism	626	196	31.3%
Home Care / Domiciliary	604	186	30.8%
Wood & Timber Products	449	186	41.4%
Sports Clubs & Recreation	259	174	67.2%
Print, Signage & Graphics	392	172	43.9%
Painting & Decorating	604	170	28.1%
Dental Practice	1,104	165	14.9%
Flooring & Tiling	575	162	28.2%
Food & Beverage Manufacturing	413	143	34.6%
Insurance	287	142	49.5%
Warehousing & Storage	328	139	42.4%
Bakery / Confectionery	475	128	26.9%
Glazing & Windows	407	122	30%
Demolition & Site Prep	337	120	35.6%
Early Years / Pre-Primary	318	101	31.8%
Facilities Management	322	96	29.8%
Pharmaceuticals / Biotech	432	92	21.3%
Events	270	87	32.2%
Vehicle Hire / Rental	344	83	24.1%
Scaffolding	351	80	22.8%
Veterinary Practice	255	73	28.6%
Plastering & Drylining	452	63	13.9%
Pharmacy	422	54	12.8%
Postal & Courier	456	52	11.4%

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 Yorkshire & The Humber", UK Business Succession Index, 13 August 2026. https://www.exitradar.co.uk/succession/yorkshire-and-the-humber/

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.