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Coffee shop and café companies in London

8,734 coffee shop and café companies have a registered office in London, and 3,133 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £7,847 in cash and owed £29,170 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.

The numbers

Coffee shop and café companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies8,73444,437
Formed in 2025 or 20263,133 (36%)36%
Being struck off or in liquidation1,398 (16%)16%
Typical cash at year end£7,8471,368 accounts£8,573
Typical amount owed at year end£29,1703,502 accounts£27,813
Typical number of employees33,587 accounts4

What this means if you’re starting one

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical coffee shop and café company in London holds £7,847 in cash and owes £29,170; 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.

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

14% of coffee shop and café companies in London are currently being struck off, against 6.9% 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.

At least a quarter of these companies owe more than they own

The lowest quarter of coffee shop and café companies in London report net assets of -£8,503 or less; the median is £2,936 (3,370 filings).

Many operators are propped up by loans, unpaid bills or money from the owner rather than by profit kept in the business. It is easy to keep going for longer than the numbers justify.

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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 London

All business benchmarks in London