Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles (SIC division 47)
Division 47 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 44 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
531,340active UK companies across the 44 codes of division 47 on the public recordCompanies House · every SIC position counted
What sits in division 47
Division 47 covers selling goods to the public. One code towers over it: 47910, retail via mail order or the internet. It is the default choice for the UK's huge ecommerce and marketplace-seller population. Other non-store selling uses 47990. Physical shops register by what they stock. Convenience and food stores use 47110, clothing 47710, pharmacies 47730, florists and pet shops 47760, and dozens more specialised-store codes exist. Market and stall traders have their own run of codes, 47810 to 47890. Mixed general stores fall into 47190. The code alone tells you how a retailer trades.
Few divisions get sold to this hard. Marketing and SEO agencies, payment providers, ecommerce platform resellers, fulfilment houses, courier account managers and bookkeepers all hunt retailers. The steady stream of new 47910 companies is the prize. Each one needs a storefront, payments and shipping on day one. Filing deadlines give accountants a natural opening for cleanup work. Growth between accounts hints at rising order volumes. A shop-based code plus the poor-website filter is a ready-made pitch for anyone selling ecommerce builds.
How to read a division 47 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 47 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 47 shares those digits: all 44 codes below begin 47, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 47 sits inside section G, wholesale and retail trade, which is the broadest tier of the classification. So a code is read left to right, from an industry down to a specific activity.
More on how division 47 codes are built
Companies choose their own codes at incorporation and can change them on any confirmation statement, and Companies House does not check the answer. A company may list up to four. That is worth knowing before you treat any division total as a headcount: the numbers here are what companies said about themselves, on the August 2026 public record, and the largest single code in this division is 47910, retail sale via mail order houses or via the internet.
Working division 47 as a list
Division 47 holds 44 codes and 531,340 active companies between them. 47910 is the largest at 37 per cent and the top three take 53 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 41 codes. That is balanced enough that the division is a reasonable unit to work, though the leading code alone will usually give you a cleaner list.
More on working division 47
A caveat that matters more in some divisions than others: a company may register up to four SIC codes, and the figures below count every position, not just the first. A business filed under two codes in this division appears under both. Treat the totals as reach rather than a headcount, and if you need a clean list, filter to companies whose FIRST code sits in the division. Every company you pull carries the Companies House record, the director's name, a verified website and a verified email, and the ones we cannot complete are not charged.
Every SIC code in division 47
Prospecting this division
Division 47 companies, as leads
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Division 47 questions
Should my online shop use 47910 or the code for the products I sell?
Use 47910. It is the accepted code for retail over the internet, whatever you sell, and most online-only sellers pick it. The product codes such as 47710 describe specialised physical stores. If you trade both ways, register both. A company may hold up to four SIC codes. Pick them at incorporation, or amend them on a confirmation statement. There is no approval step.
I run a physical shop and also sell through my website. Which codes do I need?
Register the specialised-store code that matches your shop, such as 47710 for a clothing store. Then add 47910 for the online side. Companies House allows up to four codes per company, so covering both channels is easy and costs nothing. Update the mix on your CS01 confirmation statement whenever the business changes shape.
Find companies across division 47
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