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Publishing companies in London

4,481 publishing companies have a registered office in London, and 1,282 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £20,272 in cash and owed £12,470 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Other publishing activities” (SIC 58190).

The numbers

Publishing companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies4,48113,019
Formed in 2025 or 20261,282 (29%)23%
Being struck off or in liquidation281 (6.3%)7.8%
Typical cash at year end£20,272714 accounts£14,124
Typical amount owed at year end£12,4702,005 accounts£12,487
Typical number of employees12,065 accounts1

What this means if you’re starting one

You can start without much equipment

The typical publishing company in London carries £1,867 of equipment and other fixed assets after depreciation, lower than 96% of UK industries.

Most of the cost of entry is time and running costs rather than kit, so a small test is cheap.

London already has more of these businesses than most places

Publishing companies are 0.40% of companies registered in London, against 0.24% UK-wide (1.7× the national share).

Demand here is proven, but so is choice. Customers can compare you with several nearby options.

Most of these businesses are run by one or two people

The typical publishing company in London reports 1 employee; the top quarter has 2 or more (2,065 filings).

You are mostly up against owner-operators. Your own hours are likely to be your biggest cost, and the easiest one to undercount.

Planning a business like this in London?

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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.

Publishing in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London