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Coffee shop and café companies in the Reading area

303 coffee shop and café companies have a registered office in the Reading area (RG postcodes), and 100 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £17,317 in cash and owed £47,652 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 RG postcodes, including Reading, Basingstoke, Newbury.

The numbers

Coffee shop and café companies in the Reading area (RG postcodes) compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureReadingUK
Registered companies30344,437
Formed in 2025 or 2026100 (33%)36%
Being struck off or in liquidation28 (9.2%)16%
Typical cash at year end£17,31769 accounts£8,573
Typical amount owed at year end£47,652146 accounts£27,813
Typical number of employees6149 accounts4

What this means if you’re starting one

Most of your competition will be other newcomers

33% of the 303 coffee shop and café companies in the Reading area (RG postcodes) were formed in 2025–26, against 18% of all companies in the Reading area (RG postcodes). Nationally, that share of new companies is higher than 95% of UK industries.

New rivals are arriving faster than in most trades, so your customers already have fresh options. Being new is not a difference on its own.

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

9.2% of coffee shop and café companies in the Reading area (RG postcodes) are currently being struck off, against 5.6% 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.

the Reading area (RG postcodes) has fewer of these businesses than most places

Coffee shop and café companies are 0.48% of companies registered in the Reading area (RG 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 Reading

All business benchmarks in Reading