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Pub or bar companies in London

2,606 pub or bar companies have a registered office in London, and 700 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £27,949 in cash and owed £109,683 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Public houses and bars” (SIC 56302).

The numbers

Pub or bar companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies2,60633,937
Formed in 2025 or 2026700 (27%)26%
Being struck off or in liquidation430 (17%)19%
Typical cash at year end£27,949636 accounts£20,671
Typical amount owed at year end£109,6831,122 accounts£54,849
Typical number of employees31,144 accounts5

What this means if you’re starting one

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Pub or bar companies are 0.23% of companies registered in London, against 0.62% UK-wide (0.4× 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 pub or bar company in London holds £27,949 in cash and owes £109,683; that cash figure is lower than 59% 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

11% of pub or bar companies in London are currently being struck off, against 6.9% of all companies there. Nationally that rate is higher than 96% 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.

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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.

Pub or bar in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London