UK business births: construction
UK business births: construction stood at 11,225 Businesses in Q2 2026, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is one of the indicators in the Business births, deaths and companies table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 2017 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Business births, deaths and companies table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business births by industry | |||||||||||
| Construction | 11,225 | 10,450 | 9,200 | 9,225 | 10,460 | 11,245 | 9,130 | 10,255 | 11,685 | 12,310 | |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 12,430 | 11,670 | 10,355 | 10,535 | 11,845 | 12,360 | 9,410 | 10,650 | 12,145 | 12,410 |
Understanding UK business births: construction
This metric records new enterprise formations within the UK construction sector, capturing newly registered builders, specialist trade contractors, and civil engineering firms. It isolates the bricks-and-mortar building domain from sibling industry rows, highlighting cyclical shifts in property development and infrastructure trades. Dormant holding entities and informal cash-in-hand labour are excluded, leaving only officially registered commercial units.
When analysing these figures, remember that construction activity often follows weather-related seasonality, which influences when new ventures officially start trading. Period-on-period comparisons can be volatile due to project-based business models, making annual comparisons more reliable for spotting structural direction. Avoid treating these births as a proxy for housing completions, as many registered units provide specialised subcontracting services rather than residential development.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this series include self-employed bricklayers working alone?
- Only if they register for VAT or operate a PAYE scheme, excluding informal subcontractors.
- How does this differ from general corporate incorporations in building trades?
- It counts enterprises active enough to enter tax administration systems, filtering out empty shell companies.
- Why might construction births surge in certain quarters?
- New seasonal contracting agreements often coincide with the start of warmer building periods and fiscal years.