Scientific and technical R&D
UK companies organised by the CorpSignals industry, segment, and subsegment taxonomy.
Company snapshot
What this shows: the size and current activity of this classification, plus recent formations, company age, revenue coverage, and trade participation.
All companies
17473
Active companies
13965
Formed in latest 12 months
3013
Median active-company age
4.8 years
Revenue known
299
Importers
1192
Exporters
861
Top values shown in the chart
| Category | Companies |
|---|---|
| All companies | 17,473 |
| Active companies | 13,965 |
| Formed in latest 12 months | 3,013 |
| Importers | 1,192 |
| Exporters | 861 |
Revenue coverage among active companies: 299 known, 13666 unknown (2.1%).
Company formations
What this shows: monthly incorporations and dissolutions from 1 January 2024, including companies of every current status.
Latest ten months shown in the chart
| Month | Formed | Dissolved |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11 | 201 | 103 |
| 2025-12 | 212 | 133 |
| 2026-01 | 264 | 115 |
| 2026-02 | 212 | 122 |
| 2026-03 | 289 | 133 |
| 2026-04 | 273 | 107 |
| 2026-05 | 298 | 115 |
| 2026-06 | 301 | 88 |
| 2026-07 | 293 | 169 |
| 2026-08 | 88 | 76 |
Window: 2024-01 to 2026-08.
Company status
What this shows: all current Companies House status values; blank and missing values are combined as Unknown.
Top values shown in the chart
| Status | Companies |
|---|---|
| Active | 13,965 |
| Dissolved | 3,308 |
| Liquidation | 173 |
| In Administration | 21 |
| Converted / Closed | 4 |
| Insolvency Proceedings | 2 |
Active companies by UK region
What this shows: active companies with a known ITL2 region. The UK map falls back to a bar chart if map data cannot be loaded.
Top values shown in the chart
| ITL2 region | Companies |
|---|---|
| Inner London - West | 2,010 |
| Inner London - East | 1,441 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 876 |
| Cambridgeshire and Peterborough | 630 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 573 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 517 |
| Greater Manchester | 469 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 376 |
| West Midlands | 366 |
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 353 |
Geography coverage: 13850 known, 115 unknown (99.2%).
Revenue ranges
What this shows: active companies grouped into the platform’s ordered estimated-revenue bands.
Top values shown in the chart
| Revenue range | Companies |
|---|---|
| 0-1m | 6,040 |
| 1m-15m | 1,612 |
| 15m-54m | 96 |
| 54m+ | 251 |
Revenue-range coverage: 7999 known, 5966 unknown (57.3%).
Company size and employees
What this shows: active companies by published size category and by reported employee count.
Top values shown in the chart
| Company size | Companies |
|---|---|
| Micro | 3,908 |
| Small | 3,406 |
| Medium | 14 |
| Large | 307 |
| Holding | 144 |
| Dormant | 1,901 |
Company-size coverage: 9680 known, 4285 unknown (69.3%).
Top values shown in the chart
| Employees | Companies |
|---|---|
| 0 | 2,568 |
| 1–9 | 4,192 |
| 10–49 | 451 |
| 50–249 | 68 |
| 250+ | 9 |
Employee coverage: 7288 known, 6677 unknown (52.2%).
Active-company age
What this shows: how long currently active companies have been incorporated.
Top values shown in the chart
| Age band | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 2,980 |
| 1–3 years | 2,720 |
| 3–5 years | 1,424 |
| 5–10 years | 2,689 |
| 10–20 years | 2,421 |
| 20+ years | 1,731 |
Incorporation-date coverage: 13965 known, 0 unknown (100.0%).
Classification breakdown
What this shows: active companies across the next taxonomy level; direct assignments are labelled separately. The top 20 are shown and remaining values are combined as Other.
Top values shown in the chart
| Classification | Companies |
|---|---|
| Directly assigned to this segment | 13,965 |
International trade
What this shows: active-company participation in imports and exports, followed by the ten HS2 categories involving the most distinct companies.
Top values shown in the chart
| Trade participation | Companies |
|---|---|
| Importer only | 471 |
| Exporter only | 140 |
| Both | 721 |
| Neither | 12,633 |
Top imports HS2 categories
Top values shown in the chart
| HS2 category | Companies | GBP | Available dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 — Optical and medical tools and devices | 783 | £46,529,249,238 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 85 — Electrical machinery and equipment | 736 | £153,846,292,396 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 84 — Machinery, boilers, and mechanical appliances; parts | 646 | £123,736,624,116 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 39 — Plastics and plastic products | 298 | £18,808,217,685 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 73 — Iron or Steel Products | 237 | £10,194,686,691 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 38 — Miscellaneous chemical products | 207 | £13,922,127,060 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 94 — Furniture, Lighting, and Prefabricated Buildings | 198 | £7,393,454,909 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 76 — Aluminum and aluminum products | 185 | £3,943,868,031 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 87 — Vehicles, parts, and accessories (not for trains or trams) | 140 | £29,513,066,460 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 70 — Glass and Glassware | 137 | £860,684,398 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
Top exports HS2 categories
Top values shown in the chart
| HS2 category | Companies | GBP | Available dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 — Optical and medical tools and devices | 564 | £39,301,954,860 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 85 — Electrical machinery and equipment | 493 | £50,749,456,814 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 84 — Machinery, boilers, and mechanical appliances; parts | 423 | £50,824,350,308 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 39 — Plastics and plastic products | 176 | £8,549,937,570 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 73 — Iron or Steel Products | 156 | £4,169,219,657 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 87 — Vehicles, parts, and accessories (not for trains or trams) | 129 | £7,437,893,749 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 94 — Furniture, Lighting, and Prefabricated Buildings | 127 | £1,387,480,950 | 2016-02-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 38 — Miscellaneous chemical products | 117 | £9,220,307,208 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 76 — Aluminum and aluminum products | 97 | £1,145,966,593 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
| 82 — Basic metal tools and utensils | 87 | £331,439,257 | 2016-01-01 – 2026-05-01 |
Business and digital traits
What this shows: active companies identified with selected ownership, business-model, and online-presence traits.
Values shown in the chart with data coverage
| Trait | Companies | Known | Unknown | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family business | 771 | 11,589 | 2,376 | 83.0% |
| Holding company | 5 | 11,589 | 2,376 | 83.0% |
| Solo founder | 6,408 | 11,589 | 2,376 | 83.0% |
| Ecommerce | 79 | 904 | 13,061 | 6.5% |
| Website | 1,096 | 1,124 | 12,841 | 8.0% |
| 969 | 1,124 | 12,841 | 8.0% |
Leading active companies
What this shows: the ten active companies with the highest non-missing revenue, with company number used as the deterministic tie-breaker.
Top values shown in the chart
| Company | Revenue |
|---|---|
| Charles River Laboratories Edinburgh Limited | £127,949,000 |
| Solihull Stores Ltd | £95,577,634 |
| Semtech Emea Limited | £74,669,654 |
| Aerial Exposure Ltd | £73,512,617 |
| Fera Science Limited | £45,263,131 |
| Medical Research Network Limited | £38,031,736 |
| Ii-vi Laser Enterprise Ltd | £29,204,112 |
| Consult Red Limited | £27,283,729 |
| Drumgrange Limited | £26,912,628 |
| Campden Bri | £25,751,119 |
Revenue coverage: 299 known, 13666 unknown (2.1%).
Related classifications
What this shows: sibling classifications ranked by distinct active companies, excluding the current node. The top 20 are shown and remaining values are combined as Other.
Top values shown in the chart
| Classification | Companies |
|---|---|
| Management consluting | 286,445 |
| Professional services n.e.c. | 84,933 |
| Advertising agencies | 55,812 |
| Creative and Industrial Design | 52,053 |
| Accounting and audit | 45,261 |
| Non-trading company | 41,548 |
| Non-industrial engineering | 40,806 |
| Geospatial services | 35,859 |
| Head office services | 31,142 |
| Bookkeeping | 25,802 |
| Financial management | 22,826 |
| Architechts | 21,399 |
| Public relations | 16,728 |
| Media sales | 14,641 |
| Environmental consulting | 13,954 |
| Tax consulting | 13,400 |
| Industrial engineering | 12,765 |
| Solicitors | 12,513 |
| Copyright agents | 10,424 |
| Specialist photography | 9,219 |
| Other | 64,080 |
SIC classification
SIC 72190 — Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering
Includes
research and experimental development on natural science and engineering other than biotechnological research and experimental development:, research and development on natural sciences, research and development on engineering and technology, research and development on medical sciences, research and development on agricultural sciences, interdisciplinary research and development, predominantly on natural sciences and engineering