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Courier or delivery companies in London

735 courier or delivery companies have a registered office in London, and 228 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £5,768 in cash and owed £10,894 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Unlicensed carriers” (SIC 53202).

The numbers

Courier or delivery companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies7357,984
Formed in 2025 or 2026228 (31%)32%
Being struck off or in liquidation134 (18%)19%
Typical cash at year end£5,768115 accounts£5,748
Typical amount owed at year end£10,894322 accounts£9,097
Typical number of employees1330 accounts1

What this means if you’re starting one

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Courier or delivery companies are 0.07% of companies registered in London, against 0.15% UK-wide (0.5× the national share).

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

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

16% of courier or delivery companies in London are currently being struck off, against 6.9% of all companies there. Nationally that rate is higher than 98% 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 courier or delivery company in London holds £5,768 in cash and owes £10,894; that cash figure is lower than 97% 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.

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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.

Courier or delivery in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London