UK business sectors, A to Z
Browse the complete list of UK business sectors A-Z, from advertising agencies to zoos. Every sector shows live company counts, SIC codes, new formation trends, survival rates and regional hotspots.
Browse all sectors A-Z
Sector M
- 01
Mortgage finance companies
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Membership organisations
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Machinery industrial equipment
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Metal Manufacturing
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Machining
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Maintenance and motor vehicles
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Management consultancy
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Macaroni noodles
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Metallurgy
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Mining
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Magnetic and optical media
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Malt
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Man-made fibres
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Margarine and similar edible fats
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Mattresses
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Medical and dental
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Men's underwear
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Metal forming machinery
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Metal structures
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Military fighting vehicles
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Mortars
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Motor vehicles
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Motorcycles
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Musical instruments
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Machine tools
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Men's outerwear
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Milk products
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Meals and dishes
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Marine aquaculture
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Marine fishing
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Market research
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Media representation services
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Mineral oil refining
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Mixed farming
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Motion picture distribution
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Motion picture production
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Motion picture projection
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Media content post-processing
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Museums activities
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Manufacturing
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Mining and quarrying
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Meat
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Meat and poultry meat products
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Media entertainment
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Machinery equipment
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Machinery
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Meat retail
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Medical and orthopaedic
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Mobile telephones
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Music and video recordings
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Musical instruments and scores
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Motor vehicle parts retail
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Motor vehicles sale
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Music production and distribution
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Mining and quarrying activities
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Motor vehicle parts
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Most popular sectors
Live company counts for the sectors people research most.
A large UK sector covering companies that let, manage and operate residential and commercial rental properties.
View sector → Management ConsultancyA diverse professional sector spanning strategy, operations, organisational planning and specialist business advice.
View sector → Business Support ServiceCovers the many specialist services that help UK businesses with their day-to-day commercial and administrative needs.
View sector → Real EstateTracks companies whose activity centres on acquiring and selling property held as part of their own real estate business.
View sector → Order Houses OnlineA growing sector of businesses that help customers order houses online, including property developers, house builders, modular home suppliers and companies offering prefabricated housing solutions.
View sector → Information Technology Consultancy ActivitiesCovers firms advising organisations on IT systems, technology strategy, software and the practical use of digital infrastructure.
View sector →What every sector page shows
Every UK company must choose a SIC code when it incorporates - the official classification of what the business does. Those codes power this directory of UK business sectors: 700+ industries, from advertising agencies to zoos. Start with a sector, and you can research every company registered in it.
From any sector page you can open a company profile to check its directors, filing history, financials, charges and group structure - or scan the sector's key companies and regional hotspots to shortlist businesses worth contacting. That's the point of starting here: size the sector first, then research the companies inside it, whether you're prospecting new leads, vetting a supplier, or watching a competitor.
Questions, answered
What is a SIC code?
SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) is the official UK system for classifying business activities. Every registered company chooses one or more SIC codes - from 01110 (growing of cereals) to 99999 (dormant companies) - and Intelio indexes all 6.8 million UK companies by them.
How many business sectors are there in the UK?
Companies House recognises over 700 individual SIC codes, grouped into 21 top-level divisions from agriculture (A) to arts and recreation (R). Intelio tracks every sector with live company counts, updated daily.
What does each sector page show?
Every sector page shows the number of active businesses, new incorporation trends, company age and survival rates, turnover breakdowns, key companies and regional hotspots - all free, with every figure sourced from Companies House.
How is a company's sector determined?
Companies choose their SIC code when they incorporate and can change it by filing a confirmation statement. Intelio reads the current SIC code from the live register, so sector counts always reflect the latest filings.
How often is sector data updated?
Daily. The Companies House register is synced every day, so new incorporations, dissolutions and SIC code changes appear on sector pages within 24 hours of the filing.