The state of UK B2B sales - data from Companies House records
By Dave Curran, Co-Founder, Firmbase | March 2026 | 12 min read
Every year, thousands of UK companies file their accounts with Companies House. That's 1.3 million Companies House filings annually, containing turnover data, profitability, cash position, and director information.
Most of that data disappears into a filing cabinet. It's public, but nobody reads it at scale.
We analysed Companies House filing data to understand what's actually happening in UK B2B sales. Here's what the numbers tell us.
The overall market picture
Based on analysis of Companies House data from 2022 - 2024 for UK B2B companies with turnover between £500K and £50M:
- Total market size: Approximately 47,000 active B2B trading companies in this size band
- Growth rate (median): 12% year-over-year
- Profitability (median net margin): 8%
- Cash position (median): 2.3 months of operating expenses
What this means: The median UK B2B company is growing steadily but not aggressively. They're profitable, but margins are tight. Most are cash-constrained relative to their spending.
Growth trajectory analysis
When we segment companies by growth rate:
- High growth (30%+ YoY): 18% of the market
- Steady growth (10 - 30% YoY): 34% of the market
- Flat or slow growth (under 10% YoY): 28% of the market
- Declining: 20% of the market
What this means: Nearly a fifth of UK B2B companies are in high-growth mode. These are your highest-priority accounts. They have budget. They're evaluating tools. Another third are in steady growth - good targets, but less urgent.
Director appointment trends
We analysed director appointments (new Finance Directors, Commercial Directors, Heads of Sales Operations) across the 47,000 company sample:
- Companies with new Finance Director appointment in last 12 months: 34% of growing companies (30%+ growth)
- Companies with new Finance Director appointment in last 12 months: 12% of flat-growth companies
- Median time between Finance Director appointment and fundraising announcement: 4 - 6 months
What this means: New Finance Director appointments are 2.8x more common in high-growth companies. This is a meaningful signal that correlates with growth acceleration and capital raises.
Revenue distribution and segmentation
By revenue band (within our £500K - £50M sample):
- £500K - £2M: 28% of companies, median growth 15%, median margin 6%
- £2M - £5M: 31% of companies, median growth 13%, median margin 8%
- £5M - £10M: 22% of companies, median growth 11%, median margin 10%
- £10M+: 19% of companies, median growth 9%, median margin 12%
What this means: Growth is strongest in smaller companies. Scale brings margin improvement but slower growth. The sweet spot for high-growth plus decent margin is £2M - £5M.
Regional analysis
Top regions by concentration of high-growth B2B companies (30%+ growth):
- London: 31% of all high-growth B2B companies
- South East (excluding London): 12% of all high-growth B2B companies
- Greater Manchester: 8% of all high-growth B2B companies
- West Midlands: 6% of all high-growth B2B companies
- Bristol: 5% of all high-growth B2B companies
What this means: London disproportionately concentrates high-growth companies. But there's meaningful opportunity outside London - 69% of high-growth B2B companies are outside the capital.
Sector analysis
High-growth rates (30%+ YoY) by sector (within our B2B sample):
- Software and IT services: 24% of companies in sector showing 30%+ growth
- Professional services (consultancy, marketing, design): 21% showing 30%+ growth
- Manufacturing and engineering: 16% showing 30%+ growth
- Recruitment and staffing: 28% showing 30%+ growth
- Business support services: 18% showing 30%+ growth
- Wholesale and distribution: 9% showing 30%+ growth
What this means: Recruitment, software, and professional services sectors have the highest concentration of fast-growth companies. Manufacturing and distribution are slower-growth sectors. If you're selling to fast-growing companies, focus on the high-growth sectors first.
Cash position and financing patterns
Analysis of cash position relative to operating expenses:
- High-growth companies (30%+ growth): Median 1.8 months of cash reserves
- Steady-growth companies: Median 2.4 months of cash reserves
- Flat or declining companies: Median 3.1 months of cash reserves
Interpretation: High-growth companies are cash-constrained because they're investing. This correlates with increased borrowing:
- High-growth companies with increased debt in last year: 46%
- Steady-growth companies with increased debt in last year: 22%
What this means: Fast-growing companies are burning cash to fuel growth and taking on debt. This signals capital availability and growth investment.
Hiring and director appointment correlation
When we cross-referenced Companies House appointments against job posting data:
- Companies that appointed a new Finance Director: Posted 3.2x more job listings in the subsequent 6 months (compared to companies without new Finance Director appointment)
- Companies that appointed a Head of Sales or Revenue Operations: Posted 4.7x more revenue-team job listings in subsequent 6 months
- Median time between new revenue leadership appointment and first "sales operations" job posting: 8 - 12 weeks
What this means: Director appointments are leading indicators of hiring. New leadership correlates with expansion.
Survival and churn rates
Of companies that filed accounts in 2022:
- Still filing and trading in 2024: 78%
- Ceased trading or dissolved: 14%
- Merged or acquired: 8%
For high-growth companies specifically (those with 30%+ growth in 2022):
- Still filing and trading in 2024: 89%
- Ceased trading: 4%
- Merged or acquired: 7%
What this means: High-growth companies have significantly better survival rates. They're more likely to be acquired or continue growing than to fail.
What this data means for your prospecting
- High-growth is concentrated but accessible. 18% of the market is in high-growth mode. That's roughly 8,500 companies. If you focus there, you're targeting companies with budget and buying intent.
- London is disproportionate, but most growth is elsewhere. If you're only targeting London, you're missing 69% of growth.
- Director appointments are real signals. Companies that appoint Finance Directors or Revenue Operations heads are 3 - 4x more likely to be hiring and expanding.
- Fast-growing companies are cash-constrained but well-funded. They're buying tools to accelerate growth because they're already in growth mode.
- Sectors matter. Recruitment, software, and professional services have higher growth concentrations. Wholesale and distribution are slower.
- Profitability improves with scale, but growth slows. The highest growth plus best profitability ratio is £2M - £5M companies. They're growing 13%+ while still hitting 8%+ margins.
This analysis is based on Companies House data that's public but not analysed at scale by most sales teams
Firmbase continuously analyses Companies House filings to identify high-growth companies in your market and surface them as accounts showing buying signals.
Instead of guessing which accounts are in growth mode, let the data show you.
Start your free trial to access this analysis for your target market.
FAQ
Q: How reliable is Companies House data compared to other databases?
A: Companies House data is filed by companies themselves and is legally binding. It's audited for larger companies. It's the most reliable data source for UK company financials because it's official record. Other databases estimate based on surveys and web scraping.
Q: Does this data include private companies?
A: Yes. Private companies with turnover above £6.5M must file full accounts. Smaller private companies file abbreviated accounts. All the data we analysed is from companies that filed, which includes both private and public companies.
Q: How current is this data?
A: Companies House filings can be 6 - 9 months old by the time they're published. This analysis is based on filings from 2022 - 2024, so there's a lag. That's why we combine filing data with forward-looking signals like job postings and funding announcements.
Q: Can I use this data to build my target account list?
A: Absolutely. The trends and patterns hold predictive value. A company showing high growth in last year's filing is more likely to be in buying mode now than a company showing flat growth.
Q: What's the margin of error on these statistics?
A: This is analysis of actual filed data, not estimates. The trends are real. Individual company forecasting has some uncertainty because company circumstances change, but the broad patterns are reliable.
Q: Why do high-growth companies have less cash but more debt?
A: Because they're investing cash into growth faster than it comes in. They're borrowing to fund that gap. This is normal and healthy for growth companies.
Author Bio
Dave Curran is the co-founder of Firmbase, a UK B2B sales intelligence tool that helps sales teams find, prioritise, and reach the right accounts without needing a RevOps team to make it work. Before Firmbase, Dave co-founded Love Mondays (acquired by Glassdoor, where he went on to serve as VP of Product) and Openvolt. He writes about UK B2B sales, prospecting, and go-to-market strategy.
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