UK construction: 423,000 businesses, and steadier than you think
Construction has a reputation for firms going under. The published numbers say something different: 423,000 active businesses, opening at 10.6% and closing at 8.8%, which is below the national closing rate.
Watch: Steadier than you think
Construction has a reputation for firms going under. The published figures do not really support it.
In 2024 there were about 423,000 active construction businesses in the UK. The birth rate was 10.6% and the death rate 8.8%. More arrived than left, and the closing rate was below the UK average of 9.8%.
What those numbers actually say
Construction is large, slightly growing, and slightly more stable than the country as a whole.
Compare it with two other trades from the same release. Transport and storage closed 16.5% of its businesses that year, nearly twice construction's rate. Finance and insurance closed 6.6%. Construction sits between them and closer to the calm end than most people expect.
The reputation is about scale, not rate. 8.8% of 423,000 is still tens of thousands of firms a year. And a building firm going under is visible in a way that a quiet consultancy closing is not.
The three divisions, and which one you want
Construction is not one market. It is three, and they behave differently:
- 41, building construction. Developers and main contractors putting up buildings.
- 42, civil engineering. Roads, utilities, infrastructure. Fewer firms, much larger contracts, heavily tied to public spending.
- 43, specialised construction activities. Electricians, plumbers, roofers, scaffolders and the rest of the trades. This is where most firms are.
If you are selling anything priced for a small business, 43 is your market and the other two are a distraction. If you are selling something that needs a real procurement process, 41 and 42 are where the buyers are, and there are far fewer of them.
Getting this split right before you build a list saves more time than any other decision in this trade.
423,000 firms. You need the ones near you.
Tell us the kind of company you sell to. We find them on the public record, check the website and the email, and hand you the list. It takes about two minutes instead of an afternoon.
The size problem
Construction is dominated by very small firms, which is easy to forget when the trade press talks about the big contractors.
Nationally, about three in four UK businesses employ nobody but the owner, and specialised construction is a large part of that pattern. So if your product needs a company with staff, your real market inside 43 is a fraction of the raw count. The size bands are set out in how many small businesses are there in the UK.
What actually works for finding them
Three filters that make a construction list usable.
The trade code, narrowly. Not "construction" but the specific five-digit code for the trade you serve. A roofing supplier and a scaffolding trainer are selling to different companies inside the same division.
A tight radius. Small contractors work locally. A firm 90 minutes away is not a prospect for most of what gets sold into this trade, so a national list is mostly waste. Postcode filtering matters more here than in almost any other sector.
Company age. New contractors are buying tools, vans, insurance, accounting and a way to get found. Established ones already have all of that and are harder to move.
The website tells you a lot
Construction has one of the highest rates of neglected websites of any trade, which is itself a commercial signal.
If you sell marketing, web design or anything digital, a contractor whose site does not work on a phone is a better prospect than one with a polished presence, because the gap is the pitch. That approach is set out in the poor-website filter.
If you sell something else entirely, treat the website as a filter for whether the firm is actively trading rather than as the opportunity itself.
Where these figures come from
All figures are from ONS *Business demography, UK: 2024*, published 20 November 2025. The comparison rates for transport and storage, finance and insurance and the UK average come from the same release, and are worked through in the fastest growing UK industries.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Narrow it to your patch
Leadistry reads the live UK public record, so you can pick the exact construction codes you serve, draw the radius you actually cover, and filter by how long each firm has traded. Every lead comes with a working website and a verified business email.
Counting is free. Start free with 25 leads.
Common questions
How many construction companies are there in the UK?
About 423,000 active construction businesses in 2024, on the ONS count of firms registered for VAT or PAYE. It is one of the largest trade groups in the country.
Is UK construction growing or shrinking?
Growing, slowly. In 2024 the birth rate was 10.6% and the death rate 8.8%, so more firms arrived than left, and the closing rate was below the 9.8% UK average.
What SIC codes cover construction?
Division 41 covers building construction, 42 covers civil engineering, and 43 covers specialised activities such as electrical, plumbing, plastering and roofing. Most small contractors sit in 43.