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Companies in Bradford

Bradford is the 23rd biggest place on the UK company register, with 24,991 live companies, or 0.4% of the UK total. 4,216 of those were formed in 2025. 2,492 (10.0%) have a proposal to strike off on file, above the UK figure of 7.3%. Compared with the UK as a whole, Bradford stands out for manufacture of mattresses: 24 companies, 12.1 times the national share.

What Bradford has more of than the rest of the UK

Each trade's share of Bradford companies, compared with its share across the UK.

  • Manufacture of mattresses (24 companies)12.1×
  • Manufacture of rusks and biscuits; manufacture of preserved pastry goods and cakes (22 companies)8.5×
  • Cargo handling for land transport activities (39 companies)7.1×
  • Production of meat and poultry meat products (20 companies)5.0×
  • Wholesale of furniture, carpets and lighting equipment (48 companies)4.0×

Biggest trades in Bradford

Live Bradford companies, by year formed

Only companies still live are counted, so older years look smaller. 2026 stops on 1 November 2026.

20122026
See every year as a table
YearLive companies
2012357
2013414
2014506
2015574
2016657
2017875
20181,031
20191,259
20201,131
20211,273
20221,436
20231,975
20242,587
20254,216
20264,043

Oldest active companies in Bradford

  1. Rylands-WhitecrossFormed 1869
  2. Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and IndustryFormed 1880
  3. Argyll Stores (holdings)Formed 1895
  4. West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and IndustryFormed 1897
  5. Pudsey Conservative Club CompanyFormed 1898

Funny company names registered in Bradford

Nearest in size

Town means the post town of the registered address, which isn't always where a company trades. Many companies use an accountant's or formation agent's address. Figures come from Companies House on 1 November 2026.

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