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Haulage companies in London

4,892 haulage companies have a registered office in London, and 1,832 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £4,887 in cash and owed £9,058 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Freight transport by road” (SIC 49410).

The numbers

Haulage companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies4,89268,316
Formed in 2025 or 20261,832 (37%)27%
Being struck off or in liquidation862 (18%)18%
Typical cash at year end£4,887621 accounts£8,909
Typical amount owed at year end£9,0581,702 accounts£10,608
Typical number of employees11,829 accounts1

What this means if you’re starting one

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Haulage companies are 0.44% of companies registered in London, against 1.3% UK-wide (0.4× 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

15% of haulage 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 haulage company in London holds £4,887 in cash and owes £9,058; that cash figure is lower than 88% 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.

Haulage in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London