Data · By sector

Which UK sectors have the most companies in administration

By the administrator.uk editorial teamRecomputed live from the public register

Manufacturing leads. Of the 6,720 UK companies administrator.uk tracks in administration, 1,058 (15.7%) are in manufacturing. The full ranking is below, each classified by the primary SIC code on its public register record.

6,720
In administration
7
Sectors represented
51%
Classified by sector

The sector league table

  1. 1ManufacturingManufacturing of goods1,05815.7%
  2. 2RetailWholesale, retail and motor-trade79111.8%
  3. 3ConstructionBuilding, civils, specialised trades and fit-out79011.8%
  4. 4Hospitality & foodAccommodation, pubs, restaurants and food service3685.5%
  5. 5Transport & logisticsRoad, rail, sea, air and warehousing2694%
  6. 6Recruitment & staffingEmployment agencies and labour supply1261.9%
  7. 7Care homes & social careResidential care and social work420.6%
  8. 8Other sectorsPrimary SIC code outside the sectors tracked above3,27648.8%
How we counted

The method, and what the numbers don't say

Every UK company files one or more SIC codes on the public register describing what it does. We take the first code on each company's record and map it to a broad sector. A company whose primary code does not fall into one of the sectors we track is grouped under Other sectors.

These are the companies currently recorded in administration that we track, not a complete historical count. A company that has since been sold and moved to dissolution, or converted to a Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation, leaves this table and appears under its new status. So read the figures as a snapshot of where distress sits right now, sector by sector, rather than a running total of every administration ever.

A single SIC code is a blunt instrument. A company can trade well outside the activity it registered, and holding companies often sit under a generic code. We publish the breakdown because the broad shape is useful and verifiable against the public record, not because a SIC code is the last word on what a business did.

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Questions about this breakdown

Which UK sector has the most companies in administration?
Manufacturing, with 1,058 companies currently in administration in the administrator.uk dataset, or 15.7% of the 6,720 we track. Each company is classified by the primary SIC code on its public register record.
How is each company assigned to a sector?
By the first SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code on the company's public register record, mapped to a broad sector. A company with no recognised SIC code is grouped under Other sectors. About 51% of tracked administrations fall into one of the named sectors.
Is this every UK company that has ever been in administration?
No. These are the companies currently recorded in administration on the public register that administrator.uk tracks, not a complete historical flow. Companies that have since moved to dissolution or liquidation appear under their current status elsewhere on the site.
How often does the sector breakdown change?
It is recomputed on every page load from the live database, so it reflects appointments recorded up to the day you read it.
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