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Equipment hire companies in London

512 equipment hire companies have a registered office in London, and 117 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £22,588 in cash and owed £50,783 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.” (SIC 77390).

The numbers

Equipment hire companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies5125,491
Formed in 2025 or 2026117 (23%)16%
Being struck off or in liquidation34 (6.6%)6.8%
Typical cash at year end£22,588142 accounts£25,517
Typical amount owed at year end£50,783254 accounts£59,303
Typical number of employees1253 accounts1

What this means if you’re starting one

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Equipment hire companies are 0.05% of companies registered in London, against 0.10% UK-wide (0.5× the national share).

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

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical equipment hire company in London holds £22,588 in cash and owes £50,783; that cash figure is higher than 52% 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.

Expect real upfront spend on equipment or fit-out

The typical equipment hire company in London carries £104,959 of equipment and other fixed assets after depreciation, higher than 89% of UK industries.

Kit and premises are a big part of the cost of entry, and that money is hard to get back if the idea does not work.

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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.

Equipment hire in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London