Private enterprises in London had a combined turnover of almost *** trillion British pounds in 2024, the most of any region of the United Kingdom. The region with the next highest turnover was South East England at *** billion pounds, followed by East England at over *** billion pounds.

Numbers of enterprises and local units produced from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 8 March 2024.

Annual statistics on the value of turnover from services provided by the UK service economy.

Shell had the highest annual revenue of all companies based in the United Kingdom in 2025, at approximately 284 billion U.S. dollars. BP had the second-highest annual revenue at over 189 billion dollars, followed by HSBC Holdings, which had a revenue of around 142 billion U.S. dollars. In terms of global employee numbers, however, Compass Group had the highest number among UK-based businesses, at approximately half a million in 2024, followed by Tesco at 336,400 and HSBC at almost 211,000. Big Oil, a banking giant, and Britain's top supermarket chain The two companies listed as having the most revenue in the UK this year are also two of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, alongside Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies. After a huge surge in energy prices in 2022, these companies saw their profits recede slightly in 2023, but clearly remain in strong financial positions as of 2024. HSBC Holdings, meanwhile, was the largest bank in Europe in terms of market capitalization, and was estimated to have the second-highest number of UK-based customers in 2024. The company with the fourth-highest revenue in this year, Tesco has by some distance the largest grocery-market share in Great Britain, a position it has maintained despite growing competition from discounters like Lidl and Aldi. UK economy health check In the first quarter of 2025, the UK economy grew by 0.7 percent, emerging from a brief slowdown in growth towards the end of 2024. Consumer Price inflation, has, however, started to increase, with the inflation rate reaching 3.5 percent in April, the highest rate since January 2024. Furthermore, the UK labor market is showing signs of weakness, with quite a high number of job losses since the start of the year. Alongside these generally negative signs, business confidence in the UK has been falling, with the main concern of UK firms being that of taxation, as of early 2025.

Monthly Business Survey production industries' total turnover, domestic sales and exports in the UK. Figures are in current price and are non-seasonally adjusted.

In 2024, although just 0.2 percent of businesses in the UK were large-sized enterprises, they accounted for 40.1 percent of employment, and almost half of overall business turnover.

Indicator : UK Business CountTheme : PlaceSource : Office for National Statistics (ONS) - UK Business CountsFrequency : AnnualDefinition : Snapshot of March each year data - enterprises that had either turnover or employment. This dataset covers the Black Country area by turnover sizeband between 2010-2023.Latest Period : 2023Released : September 2023Next Update : To be announcedLink:https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2023

Forecast: Manufacturing Turnover Per Employee in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Monthly Business Survey services industries' total turnover in current price and non-seasonally adjusted, UK.

In 2021, the leading logistics company in the United Kingdom was Royal Mail, with a turnover of approximately *** billion British pounds from its road transportation activities in the financial year ending March 28, 2021. DHL came second in that ranking, with just over *** billion British pounds.

The Business Structure Database (BSD) contains a small number of variables for almost all business organisations in the UK. The BSD is derived primarily from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a live register of data collected by HM Revenue and Customs via VAT and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. The IDBR data are complimented with data from ONS business surveys. If a business is liable for VAT (turnover exceeds the VAT threshold) and/or has at least one member of staff registered for the PAYE tax collection system, then the business will appear on the IDBR (and hence in the BSD). In 2004 it was estimated that the businesses listed on the IDBR accounted for almost 99 per cent of economic activity in the UK. Only very small businesses, such as the self-employed were not found on the IDBR.

The IDBR is frequently updated, and contains confidential information that cannot be accessed by non-civil servants without special permission. However, the ONS Virtual Micro-data Laboratory (VML) created and developed the BSD, which is a 'snapshot' in time of the IDBR, in order to provide a version of the IDBR for research use, taking full account of changes in ownership and restructuring of businesses. The 'snapshot' is taken around April, and the captured point-in-time data are supplied to the VML by the following September. The reporting period is generally the financial year. For example, the 2000 BSD file is produced in September 2000, using data captured from the IDBR in April 2000. The data will reflect the financial year of April 1999 to March 2000. However, the ONS may, during this time, update the IDBR with data on companies from its own business surveys, such as the Annual Business Survey (SN 7451).

The data are divided into 'enterprises' and 'local units'. An enterprise is the overall business organisation. A local unit is a 'plant', such as a factory, shop, branch, etc. In some cases, an enterprise will only have one local unit, and in other cases (such as a bank or supermarket), an enterprise will own many local units.

For each company, data are available on employment, turnover, foreign ownership, and industrial activity based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)92, SIC 2003 or SIC 2007. Year of 'birth' (company start-up date) and 'death' (termination date) are also included, as well as postcodes for both enterprises and their local units. Previously only pseudo-anonymised postcodes were available but now all postcodes are real.

The ONS is continually developing the BSD, and so researchers are strongly recommended to read all documentation pertaining to this dataset before using the data.

Linking to Other Business Studies
These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest Edition Information
For the sixteenth edition (March 2024), data files and a variable catalogue document for 2023 have been added.

Annual estimates of foreign-owned businesses by industry group, section, employment and turnover group, and country breakdown.

Forecast: Turnover Per Employee of Employment Services in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2021, businesses in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in the United Kingdom had a collective turnover of ** billion British pounds, with enterprises that employed between * and * people having the highest turnover at *** billion pounds.

Forecast: Ice Cream Turnover Per Employee in the UK 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Turnover Per Employee of Administrative and Support Services in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Turnover Per Employee of Business and Other Management Consultancy Activities in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Plastic Packaging Goods Turnover Per Employee in the UK 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!