Recruitment Companies in Edinburgh: 223 Active Firms (2026)
Recruitment companies in Edinburgh source permanent, temporary and contract workers for employers across the city region.
Buying decisions tend to sit with HR directors, finance teams and hiring managers, with procurement involved where temporary staffing or managed hiring becomes recurring spend. Edinburgh agencies typically sell to SME, mid-market and larger employers rather than consumers, and the commercial motion depends on whether the mandate is a permanent placement, a temporary-worker supply arrangement or a contract-labour panel. Lean specialists can operate around niche hiring needs; larger staffing operators need payroll, worker-term, pay and key-information-document processes that can stand up to repeat hiring and work-finding restrictions.
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Edinburgh has 223 actively trading recruitment and staffing companies, making it a compact city-region cohort rather than a broad national labour-supply base. Reported employment across the cohort totals 2,358 people, which points to a mix of small specialist agencies and a narrower layer of larger staffing operators. The local shape is consistent with a market built around permanent recruitment, temporary staffing, contract labour and managed hiring services for employers that still value proximity to candidates, hiring managers and assignment sites.
Employment-agency rules matter more than a general operating licence. Agencies and employment businesses must not charge work-seekers for work-finding services, withhold wages or start searching before giving workers written terms and a key information document. Employment businesses supplying temporary workers also carry the pay obligation for hours worked, even where the hirer has not paid or approved a timesheet. Enforcement of agency-worker rights sits with the Fair Work Agency. Labour providers supplying agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering or associated processing and packaging may also need a gangmaster’s licence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act.
Edinburgh’s cohort appears tilted towards specialist and owner-managed agencies rather than high-turnover staffing operators. That tends to favour relationship-led account management, candidate ownership and repeat local mandates over national volume supply. Compliance work is unlikely to recede, particularly where temporary workers, written terms and pay obligations sit inside the agency rather than the hirer. Consolidation has been more plausible around client books, payroll capability and specialist labour pools than around generalist vacancy filling. The firms most able to move beyond founder-led delivery are likely to be those with repeat employer demand and disciplined worker administration.
What’s in the file
One row per company, 50+ columns — everything below plus each company’s verified directors, from Companies House filings.
Company data
Verified directors — included
223
Active firms
2026
63
Formed since 2022
recent incorporations
1
Above £5M
reported turnover
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Key facts
About 1% of the trading cohort reports turnover above £5M (1 of 223 firms) — the rest sits below that revenue band.
28% of the cohort was incorporated since 2022 (63 firms), so a sizeable share is in its first few filing cycles.
UK recruitment and staffing businesses are mainly governed by employment-agency rules rather than a single general operating licence.
GOV.UK rules include not charging work-seekers for work-finding services, not withholding wages due, and giving workers a key information document and written terms before work-finding begins.
Temporary labour supply into agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and associated processing or packaging can require a Fair Work Agency gangmaster’s licence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004.
The REC puts the recruitment industry’s contribution at £40.6 billion in 2025, equal to 1.6% of UK Gross Value Added.
The World Employment Confederation says private employment agencies placed 61 million people in jobs globally in 2024, including 58.4 million through temporary agency work and 2.5 million through direct recruitment.
Top Edinburgh Recruitment companies
Provides recruitment and executive search services, placing candidates in permanent, contract and temporary roles across sectors including finance, technology, life sciences and construction. Also…
Serves employers hiring permanent, contract and temporary staff, from start-ups to household brands, across sectors including finance, public sector, healthcare, renewables, tech, manufacturing,…
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and staffing services for the health and social care sector, supplying trained support workers to care providers. Matches candidates to temporary and longer‑term roles and offers…
Serves health and social care providers in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Central Scotland, including voluntary-sector organisations, local authorities and statutory services, plus care candidates seeking…
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Growing, Hiring · 8% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides healthcare staffing and recruitment services for care homes, supplying nurses, care assistants, and support staff. Screens, trains, and places personnel, and monitors performance through…
Serves nursing and care homes in Edinburgh, selling to management teams that need temporary or recruited healthcare, care assistant, hospitality and domestic staff.
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · -22% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 2 filingsProvides recruitment and executive search services for infrastructure, construction, property, telecoms, data centre and renewable energy sectors, placing permanent, temporary and contract staff and…
Serves employers in infrastructure, construction, property, telecoms, data centres, renewable energy and financial services, including firms hiring permanent, temporary and contractor talent from…
Financial Health
DistressedDistressed · 0% CAGR over 1y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and temporary staffing services, sourcing and placing candidates for roles in sectors including accountancy, engineering, human resources, legal, built environment, science,…
Serves employers and professionals in accountancy and finance, engineering, HR, legal, built environment, science and pharma, financial services, sales and marketing, and business support sectors.
Financial Health
WeakWeak · -6% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsSupplies temporary healthcare staff including nurses, healthcare assistants and support workers to care homes, hospitals, domiciliary care providers and community services. Also provides recruitment…
Serves care homes, residential homes, hospitals, domiciliary care providers and community centres, plus individuals needing healthcare industry training; primarily B2B healthcare and social care…
Financial Health
StableStable · -15% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsSupplies temporary and permanent carers to care homes and social care organisations, including emergency staffing cover. Recruits, screens and trains care workers and offers CPD-accredited health and…
Serves care organisations in Scotland, including providers supporting vulnerable people that need temporary, long-term or permanent care staff, plus health and social care teams seeking…
Financial Health
StableStable · Hiring · 13% CAGR over 2y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and talent sourcing services for technology and business transformation roles. Places permanent and contract staff across software engineering, data, cybersecurity, cloud and…
Serves start-up, scale-up, SME and corporate employers hiring technology and transformation talent across the UK, Europe and USA, including software, data, cybersecurity, cloud, engineering, finance…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · -8% CAGR over 5y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsProvides recruitment services for relief and temporary chefs. Supplies chefs for short‑term and seasonal assignments in hotels, restaurants, event companies, contract catering operations, pubs,…
Serves hospitality businesses and professional kitchens in Scotland, including hotels, restaurants, pubs, event companies, contract caterers, cafes, universities and visitor attractions needing…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
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Provides recruitment and executive search services, placing candidates in permanent, contract and temporary roles across sectors including finance, technology, life sciences and construction. Also…
Serves employers hiring permanent, contract and temporary staff across the UK and internationally, from start-ups to household brands and public bodies in finance, tech, life sciences, manufacturing,…
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsSupplies registered nurses and care assistants to healthcare providers for temporary and relief staffing. Also delivers supported living and homecare services, assisting older adults and people with…
Serves healthcare and care providers needing relief nurses and care assistants across Edinburgh and the Lothians, plus older adults and people with complex needs seeking homecare in Edinburgh, the…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · Hiring · 84% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment services for the construction, engineering, property, design, and oil and gas sectors. Sources and places permanent and temporary staff including site managers, engineers,…
Serves construction, engineering, property, design and oil & gas employers seeking staff, alongside candidates in trades, surveying, site management, CAD and project management across Scotland and…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · 2% CAGR over 5y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and staffing services placing temporary and permanent staff across sectors including engineering and construction, IT and digital, corporate and professional services,…
Serves employers and candidates across admin, customer services, corporate and professional services, engineering, construction, IT, digital, transport, industrial, manual and catering sectors.
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · Hiring · 42% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsProvides recruitment and talent search services for life sciences and technology companies, including medical devices, diagnostics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and data science. Supports…
Serves start-up, scale-up and growth life sciences and technology businesses, plus job candidates, across medical devices, diagnostics, biotech, pharma, data science, bioinformatics and agritech.
Financial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsSupplies event crew and production personnel for live entertainment and corporate events. Provides roles including stagehands, riggers, forklift operators, runners, spotlight operators, wardrobe…
Serves B2B clients in the entertainment, live events and corporate presentation sectors, including production companies, venues, festivals, broadcasters and event organisers needing event crew and…
Financial Health
StableStable · -68% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and executive search services for the food, drink and FMCG sectors. Places professionals in manufacturing, packaging, pharmaceutical and chemical companies across roles including…
Serves both employers and job candidates in food and drink manufacturing, packaging, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and wider FMCG. Targets SMEs to blue-chip manufacturers hiring salaried staff from…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · Hiring · 11% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment services for finance and accountancy roles, connecting employers with candidates for permanent, interim, and executive positions. Operates across sectors including accountancy…
Serves employers hiring finance talent and finance professionals seeking roles, with a B2B focus on accountancy practices, industry and commerce, not-for-profit organisations, and executive teams…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · -4% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment services for technology and digital roles, sourcing candidates and placing them in permanent and contract positions. Offers hiring support including executive search and retained…
Serves technology and digital employers seeking permanent, contract and executive hires, alongside IT and digital professionals looking for new roles in the UK market.
Financial Health
StableStable · Hiring · 28% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Provides recruitment and staffing services for the life sciences, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Also supplies outsourced commercial and clinical support teams and manages partnership…
Serves UK life sciences, pharmaceutical, medtech and healthcare organisations, including NHS bodies, ICBs and clinical research organisations seeking people-based workforce and partnership support.
Location
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Provides recruitment services for the construction industry, sourcing and placing skilled tradespeople and labour with construction contractors and employers across a range of building and site…
Serves construction employers and skilled tradespeople across Scotland, covering a range of construction trades and roles.
Financial Health
N/AN/A
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment, executive search and contracting services for the energy sector, placing specialists in upstream oil and gas, corporate energy roles, and low‑carbon and renewable fields. Also…
Serves energy-sector employers and professionals in upstream oil and gas, corporate energy, and low-carbon/renewables markets, including E&P, offshore wind, hydrogen, solar and energy storage…
Financial Health
StableStable · -50% CAGR over 5y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and staffing services for professional services roles, connecting employers with candidates across office services, property and legal, accountancy and finance, and HR and…
Serves small businesses, global corporations and non-profits hiring professional services staff, plus candidates in office services, property, legal, accountancy, finance, HR and recruitment roles…
Financial Health
WeakWeak · Hiring · 68% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 4 filingsProvides recruitment services for technology roles, placing software, data, infrastructure and cybersecurity professionals in permanent and contract positions. Works with companies to source, screen…
Serves technology employers hiring permanent and contract specialists, from scaling startups to larger organisations, plus tech professionals seeking roles in the UK, Finland and Thailand.
Financial Health
DistressedDistressed · -14% CAGR over 3y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsProvides talent acquisition and advisory services including executive search, talent mapping, and market insights. Supports organisations with leadership recruitment, workforce planning, and analysis…
Serves businesses needing talent acquisition and workforce planning support, particularly leadership teams and in-house hiring functions in consumer, financial services, healthcare and life sciences,…
Financial Health
StableStable · Hiring · 15% CAGR over 2y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsSupplies non‑medical personal help (NMPH) support staff to colleges and universities, including study skills tutors, mental health and autism mentors, note‑takers, proof‑readers, in‑class support…
Serves further and higher education institutions and students needing non-medical personal help, including DSA-funded learners with dyslexia, mental health conditions, autism, ADHD and other support…
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Growing · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment services specialising in accountancy and finance roles. Sources and places candidates in permanent and interim positions, and offers candidate support including consultation, CV…
Serves employers hiring accountancy and finance staff, plus finance professionals seeking permanent or interim roles, with emphasis on Scottish SMEs, financial services, energy, third sector and…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · Hiring · 9% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides specialist recruitment services for the food, drink and FMCG sectors, sourcing candidates for permanent and interim roles across functions including sales, marketing, engineering, quality,…
Serves food, drink and FMCG employers in the UK, Europe and America, alongside professionals seeking roles across sales, finance, technical, engineering, supply chain, HR and operations.
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Hiring · 25% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and executive search services for food and drink manufacturing and related sectors, including beauty and personal care, chemicals, agriculture and renewable energy. Sources…
Serves employers and professionals in UK food and drink manufacturing, plus beauty and personal care, renewable energy, agriculture, chemical manufacturing and executive-level roles.
Financial Health
DistressedDistressed · -63% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides recruitment and executive search services for the food and drink manufacturing sector and related industries, including beauty and personal care, chemicals, agriculture and renewable energy,…
Serves UK food and drink manufacturers and related employers in beauty/personal care, renewable energy, agriculture and chemical manufacturing, alongside professionals seeking roles from junior to…
Financial Health
DistressedDistressed · -65% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Provides recruitment and talent services for technology, digital and business transformation roles, placing contract, permanent and senior professionals. Specialises in cyber security, data and AI,…
Serves UK employers hiring contract, permanent and senior technology, digital and transformation talent, alongside candidates in cyber, cloud, data, AI, software engineering and change.
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides domiciliary care services and supplies care assistants to care homes, nursing homes, hospitals and supported living facilities. Delivers personal and domestic care such as bathing, dressing,…
Serves care homes, nursing homes, hospitals, independent living facilities, supported living services and day centres needing care assistants or domiciliary care staffing support.
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Hiring · 23% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable · 0% CAGR over 2y
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed · 0% CAGR over 4y
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Computed from 2 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 4y
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · -16% CAGR over 4y
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 4y
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · -10% CAGR over 4y
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides technical consultancy and recruitment services for the water and utilities sectors, including engineering support, systems optimisation, controls, DSEAR/ATEX compliance, flow monitoring and…
Serves B2B clients in UK water utilities and related sectors, including aquaculture, construction, energy, FMCG, house building, manufacturing and transport, particularly teams needing engineering,…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · -9% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 4 filingsProvides recruitment and talent acquisition services for the electrical contracting and construction sectors. Sources and places technical, engineering and leadership professionals for projects…
Serves electrical contracting and construction businesses, including contractors delivering commercial builds, data centres, healthcare, infrastructure, industrial and renewable energy projects…
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Hiring · 17% CAGR over 3y
Location
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Computed from 5 filingsProvides childcare services through a network of vetted babysitters and nannies, offering evening babysitting, casual and permanent nanny placements, and nanny vetting and registration for families…
Serves parents and families needing babysitters or nannies, nurseries seeking childcare staff, and households that already employ a nanny and need registration support.
Financial Health
WeakWeak · -4% CAGR over 4y
Location
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Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable · 0% CAGR over 2y
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Computed from 2 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable · -65% CAGR over 1y
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Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
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Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
StrongStrong · 0% CAGR over 1y
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Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
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How Edinburgh Recruitment companies work and how to sell to them
What they do
Edinburgh recruitment firms earn mainly through employer-paid fees rather than charges to candidates. Permanent recruitment is usually priced as a success fee linked to starting salary, sometimes with staged retainers for search-led assignments. Temporary and contract staffing works more like a labour-supply margin: the agency pays or administers the worker, bills the hirer, and earns the spread between pay, statutory costs and the charge rate. Managed hiring adds project or account fees where the agency runs a vacancy pipeline, screening, shortlisting and interview coordination. The service is people-heavy, but the operating model depends on candidate databases, payroll workflows and evidence that terms were issued before work-finding activity begins.
Who they sell to
Most clients are employers with recurring vacancies, scarce skills needs or short-term labour gaps, from owner-managed businesses to larger organisations with HR and procurement processes. Hiring managers tend to sponsor individual permanent searches; HR directors and finance teams become more involved where fees, headcount planning or contractor spend repeat. Smaller mandates are often won through founder networks, referrals and direct outreach, while temporary staffing panels and managed hiring contracts are more likely to involve supplier onboarding, rate cards, insurance checks and RFP-style comparison. Sales cycles can be brief for a single vacancy, but lengthen when the agency is trying to join a preferred supplier list or take responsibility for payroll-linked work.
What they buy
Most recruitment firms tend to spend on systems that improve consultant output and keep worker administration orderly. Core purchases include applicant tracking and recruitment CRM software, candidate sourcing tools, email and calling infrastructure, website and search marketing, payroll, timesheets, invoicing and credit-control support. Agencies supplying temporary workers also buy employment-law advice, contract templates, insurance, right-to-work checking, background screening and document storage with auditable workflows. Larger operators may add finance systems, analytics, cyber security, HR software for internal staff, outsourced accounting and training for sales consultants. Suppliers usually need to show how their offer protects fee income, shortens vacancy handling or reduces manual compliance work.
Why and how to sell to them
Recruitment buyers tend to evaluate vendors when margin, speed or compliance starts to constrain growth. Common triggers include adding a temporary staffing desk, winning a larger employer account, moving from founder-led delivery to consultant teams, replacing spreadsheets with a shared candidate database, or seeing cash pressure because workers must be paid before the hirer settles invoices. Outbound messages work better when they refer to the agency’s commercial motion: permanent recruiters care about candidate engagement and placement conversion; temporary staffing operators care about timesheet accuracy, pay obligations, billing latency and audit trails. A practical pitch is usually framed around fewer dropped candidates, cleaner terms, faster invoicing and less rework for consultants.
How this list is built
Data sources
This list is built from UK Companies House filings, XBRL accounts data, and semantic analysis of each company's public website. Revenue and headcount figures come from the most recent filed accounts; where the company has not filed, values are estimated using a model trained on filed history and peer benchmarks and are labelled as estimates.
Classification
Rather than relying solely on SIC codes, Firmbase classifies each company semantically: the company's website is crawled, an AI model reads what the company actually sells, and the company is placed into the relevant industry and subsectors. SIC codes are used as one signal but not the only one. This means a company that registered under a generic SIC code but pivoted into (for example) fintech is correctly identified as fintech, not as its original SIC category.
Freshness
The underlying company data is refreshed from Companies House continuously; filings appear in the list within days of submission. The curated list ordering is regenerated when the underlying data moves meaningfully (company count changes by more than 5%, a new company enters the top-ranked segment, or the filed-revenue numbers for the top firms change). You can see the last-updated timestamp near the top of the page.
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