Apartments in the UK. Image by Tim Sandle
Buy-to-let, e-commerce and real estate agencies were the top three most popular business types incorporated last year in the UK. The fewest startups were in mining and quarrying, counting just 131 in the entire category.
This is according to data compiled by MRPeasy, which analysed the UK’s Companies House registers up until January 1, 2026. The researchers focused on companies incorporated in 2025 and grouped them by the listed Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code to determine the most commonly indicated business type.
Buy-to-let was the most popular type of business registered in the UK in 2025. Officially listed under the SIC code 68209, titled ‘Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate’, the classification appears on 32,524 companies’ files.
E-commerce was the second most common kind of startup last year, counting 17,789 new companies. There were 17,789 new companies in the UK in 2025 whose activity includes ‘retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet’.
Real estate agencies ranked third for popularity among entrepreneurs, with 13,441 new companies in the sector just last year.
Non-financial management consultancy and tech support were the fourth and fifth most common startups in 2025 in the UK, with 11,107 and 10,324 new companies falling under these categories, respectively.
Top 20 Most Common Business Classifications for Companies Incorporated in 2025 in the UK
| # | Classification | Category | Number of Businesses Incorporated in 2025 |
| 1 | Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate | Real estate activities | 32,524 |
| 2 | Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 17,789 |
| 3 | Management of real estate on a fee or contract basis | Real estate activities | 13,441 |
| 4 | Management consultancy activities other than financial management | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 11,107 |
| 5 | Other information technology service activities | Information and communication | 10,324 |
| 6 | Information technology consultancy activities | Information and communication | 9,266 |
| 7 | Other business support service activities n.e.c. | Administrative and support service activities | 8,879 |
| 8 | Advertising agencies | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 6,973 |
| 9 | Other service activities n.e.c. | Other service activities | 6,926 |
| 10 | Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 6,686 |
| 11 | Other education n.e.c. | Education | 6,306 |
| 12 | Construction of domestic buildings | Construction | 5,951 |
| 13 | Business and domestic software development | Information and communication | 5,648 |
| 14 | Buying and selling of own real estate | Real estate activities | 4,844 |
| 15 | Other human health activities | Human health and social work activities | 4,744 |
| 16 | Educational support services | Education | 4,705 |
| 17 | Artistic creation | Arts, entertainment and recreation | 4,414 |
| 18 | Take-away food shops and mobile food stands | Accommodation and food service activities | 4,128 |
| 19 | Web portals | Information and communication | 4,017 |
| 20 | Specialised design activities | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 4,001 |
Among overall categories, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which includes e-commerce, ranked above all others, with 72,145 new businesses. Real estate companies follow with 54,238 new additions last year. Professional, scientific and technical activities ranked third with 46,277 startups in 2025, particularly in management consultancy, advertising and design.
The least common category for new businesses in the UK was mining and quarrying, with 131 companies listing this as one of their main activities. Non-UK organisations and bodies were the second least common type of business incorporated last year, counting 329. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply was the third least popular business type, with 346 startups in this sector.
As for where businesses were registered the most last year, London takes the top spot by far. Every fourth new company is registered here. The top postcodes London businesses prefer to register in are WC2H (4.1%), covering Leicester Square and St Giles; EC1V (2.8%) – the capital’s so-called ‘tech belt’; and N1 (1.5%), which covers a much wider area just north of central London.
Manchester is the second biggest business hub for startups in the UK, where 2.5% of all UK companies were registered last year. M40, M12 and M8 are the top postcodes in which new businesses registered last year.
The next biggest business hubs for startups in 2025 in the UK were Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester, Bristol and Nottingham.
“At the beginning of 2025, we saw e-commerce lead the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit, but buy-to-let outpaced it by the end of the year,” Karl Heinrich Lauri, CMO at MRPeasy tells Digital Journal.
Lauri adds: “From April 2026, the new regulations on Making Tax Digital require landlords and sole trader who earn over £50,000 to submit quarterly updates to HMRC, as well as an end of period statement, as opposed to just one self-assessment tax return they have been required up until the new rules kick in. For many small property owners, this is considerably more paperwork and deadlines to keep on top of, which would not exist if they simply registered as a limited company.”
“Another change coming this April is that sole traders and limited companies alike will be required to use specialised software for their annual accounts and tax return. Furthermore, the UK government announced in November that it plans on increasing property income tax by 2% from April 2027. This is still quite some time away, but it gives private landlords another reason to incorporate and be subjected to a milder corporation tax between 19% and 25%, an acceptable tax on dividends, even after capital gains tax considerations when transferring a property to a company, as opposed to personal income tax that could reach 47%.”
Lauri further notes: “Aside from the surge in buy-to-let moving towards a different entity type, the real growth remains in e-commerce. It reflects how the pandemic permanently changed consumer shopping habits, creating opportunities for new online retailers.”
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