Division 72 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 3 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
Organisations here sell knowledge. Code 72190 is the broadest entry. It takes in natural sciences and engineering R&D, from materials work to applied physics. Code 72110 sets biotechnology research apart. Code 72200 covers social sciences and humanities. The population is mixed. You get university spinouts, grant-funded ventures that are pre-revenue by design, corporate research subsidiaries, and consultancies that picked an R&D code for genuinely experimental work. Expect a long gap between incorporation and real trading, longer than in most divisions.
Investors, grant consultants and R&D tax relief advisers watch these codes closely. A new 72110 or 72190 company often follows a funding award or a spinout agreement. Lab equipment suppliers, specialist recruiters, patent attorneys and contract research organisations sell here too. Many of these companies burn funding rather than earn revenue. So filing history tells you more about health than growth figures do. A company near its accounts deadline with an abandoned website is often a shelved project, not a live buyer.
No. HMRC judges R&D relief claims on the nature of the work, not the SIC code at Companies House. A company in any division can qualify. SIC codes are self-selected with no approval process. Advisers do scan division 72 for new clients, so an accurate research code may bring more approaches your way, welcome or not.
Division 72 is experimental development. The aim is new knowledge, prototypes or techniques. Division 71 is applying established engineering expertise to client projects. A firm doing both can hold codes from each. Companies House allows up to 4 per company, chosen at incorporation or updated on the confirmation statement (CS01). List the code covering most of your activity first.
✓ No card · ✓ 25 free leads · ✓ Cancel anytime