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Coffee shop and café companies in the Ipswich area

277 coffee shop and café companies have a registered office in the Ipswich area (IP postcodes), and 89 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £12,841 in cash and owed £29,758 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Unlicenced restaurants and cafes” (SIC 56102), which also covers café, juice or smoothie bar. Covers companies with a registered office in IP postcodes, including Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds.

The numbers

Coffee shop and café companies in the Ipswich area (IP postcodes) compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureIpswichUK
Registered companies27744,437
Formed in 2025 or 202689 (32%)36%
Being struck off or in liquidation42 (15%)16%
Typical cash at year end£12,84147 accounts£8,573
Typical amount owed at year end£29,758119 accounts£27,813
Typical number of employees5120 accounts4

What this means if you’re starting one

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

15% of coffee shop and café companies in the Ipswich area (IP postcodes) are currently being struck off, against 6% of all companies there. Nationally that rate is higher than 94% of UK industries.

Closures run high here. It is a churn signal, not a survival rate, but it means the common failure points are worth learning before you start.

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical coffee shop and café company in the Ipswich area (IP postcodes) holds £12,841 in cash and owes £29,758; that cash figure is lower than 89% of UK industries.

Typical operators end the year holding less cash than they owe, so there is little slack if takings dip or a big bill lands early.

the Ipswich area (IP postcodes) has fewer of these businesses than most places

Coffee shop and café companies are 0.48% of companies registered in the Ipswich area (IP postcodes), against 0.81% UK-wide (0.6× the national share).

That could be a gap or a sign of weak demand. The register cannot tell which.

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What these figures can’t tell you

Companies are counted where their registered office is, which may be an accountant or a home address rather than a shop. Sole traders and partnerships are not on the register, and electronically filed accounts cover roughly 60–75% of accounts filed each year. The figures describe companies that exist; they cannot prove demand for your idea or predict whether it will work. How the figures are built.

Coffee shop and café in other places

Other businesses in Ipswich

All business benchmarks in Ipswich