FOI ref: FOI/2023/4853
You asked
I would like to know the number of manufacturing companies that there are in the UK.
I am looking for a List of UK companies with their SIC codes to identify the number of the types of companies.
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request enquiring the number of manufacturing companies that there are in the UK.
For information, ONS produce an annual publication called UK Business: Activity, size and location. This publication breaks down the number of UK Businesses (registered for VAT and/or PAYE) by geography, employment size-band, industry and legal status. It is created using an extract of the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 11 March 2022.
From utilising the accompanying data tables within our publication there are currently 138,440 Manufacturing businesses in the UK, of which 115,665 are companies. The data held within our UK business publication can be manipulated further using a dissemination tool on Nomis web.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a full list of the names of companies. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact our IDBR data service team via idbrdas@ons.gov.uk.