How many UK companies state £1m or more of net assets, with an individual controller?
A floor counted from Companies House accounts and the register of people with significant control, with every limit on it stated.
The question as people ask it has a tidier answer than the record can honestly give. As at 8 November 2026 I can give you a floor of 103,910 companies, with its conditions attached. It counts companies, which is not the same as counting the rich, however much one might like it to be.
In short
At least 103,910 active, non-dormant UK companies had a current individual person with significant control and stated net assets of £1m or more on their latest accounts, as at 8 November 2026. Of those, as at 8 November 2026, 51,779 had exactly one current entry of any kind, that entry an individual, the nearest the register comes to one person's control, without proving it. The net assets are the company's book figure, not anyone's fortune.
Key takeaways
- As at 8 November 2026, 103,910 active companies with a current individual person with significant control stated net assets of £1m or more on accounts for a period ending in 2024 or later.
- As at 8 November 2026, 61,848 of those companies stated £1m to under £2.5m, 42,062 stated £2.5m or more, and 8,198 stated £10m or more.
- The 103,910 companies counted as at 8 November 2026 are about 3.5 per cent of the 3,010,516 companies in the same population that stated net assets at all.
- Of accounts held for periods ending in calendar 2025, as at 8 November 2026, 98.9 per cent stated net assets and 1.8 per cent stated turnover, which is why this count is built on the balance sheet.
- As at 8 November 2026, 51,779 of those companies had exactly one current entry on the register, that entry an individual.
How many UK companies have £1m or more of net assets and an individual controller?
The count was 103,910 as at 8 November 2026. Each company counted is active on the register, is not coded as dormant, has at least one current entry for an individual person with significant control, and stated net assets of £1m or more on its latest accounts for a period ending in 2024 or later.
The table shows that population by the net assets stated, measured on 8 November 2026. The bands are the house's. The table counts companies and adds no net assets together.
| Latest accounts, active companies with an individual controller, as at 8 November 2026 | Companies |
|---|---|
| With latest accounts | 3,035,765 |
| Stating no net assets figure | 25,249 |
| Stating net assets | 3,010,516 |
| Under £500k, including nil and negative | 2,828,773 |
| £500k to under £1m | 77,833 |
| £1m to under £2.5m | 61,848 |
| £2.5m to under £10m | 33,864 |
| £10m or more | 8,198 |
| All at £1m or more | 103,910 |
On 2 November 2026 the same count stood at 104,005, so it fell by 95 in six days to 8 November 2026. The count moves as new accounts replace old ones, companies close and register entries change; the house has not broken that movement down.
Does the count show how many companies are under one person's control?
No. The 103,910 companies counted as at 8 November 2026 are those with at least one current individual entry on the register, and that is a weaker statement than control by one person. The GOV.UK guidance, updated 30 July 2026, says a person with significant control is usually someone with "more than 25% shares or voting rights", or who can appoint or remove a majority of directors, or who can otherwise influence or control the company, and that "a company can have one or more PSCs".
So a company owned by three equal shareholders appears once in the count, and no one of them controls it alone. Other cases point the same way:
- Two holders of half each are both on the register, and neither controls the company alone.
- An individual entry can be a trustee or a member of a firm, because the same guidance says to record "all trustees or members/partners of the firm as PSCs" where a trust or such a firm holds control.
- The same person can sit behind several companies, so the number of people behind the count is lower than the count suggests and is not measured here.
- A company whose only controller on the register is another company, or which has no current entry, is not counted, whoever stands behind it.
The closer answer to the question as searched is the count of companies with exactly one current entry of any kind, that entry an individual: 51,779 at £1m or more as at 8 November 2026, 20,927 at £2.5m or more and 4,269 at £10m or more. Even that does not prove sole control, since a single entry can sit beside shareholders below the threshold.
What does £1m of net assets actually tell you?
In the count as at 8 November 2026, net assets of £1m means a company's balance sheet showed assets exceeding liabilities by at least £1m on its accounting date, and nothing more. The money belongs to the company. A shareholder's interest depends on the share held, on tax, on debt held elsewhere and on what a buyer would pay, and none of those is in this figure.
Four limits apply to every row of the table above.
- Book values. The figure is what the accounts state, which can sit a long way from market value in either direction, and a period ending in January 2024 was nearly three years old as at 8 November 2026.
- Not always audited. The GOV.UK guidance read on 8 November 2026 allows audit exemption, for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025, to a company meeting two of turnover up to £15m, assets up to £7.5m and 50 or fewer employees, with exclusions such as public companies. The house has not measured the audited share of this count.
- Not cash. Of accounts held for periods ending in calendar 2025, as at 8 November 2026, 39.8 per cent stated cash at all, and net assets can be a building, stock or a loan owed by the director.
- Double counting. A holding company's balance sheet can carry the value of a subsidiary that files its own accounts, so where both have an individual entry, as at 8 November 2026 the same value can sit behind two companies in the count.
The count is not a measure of personal wealth, and the house quotes no net worth for any private person.
Why is the count a floor?
The 103,910 as at 8 November 2026 is a floor mainly because paper filers are largely absent. The Companies House page for its accounts data product, last updated 7 November 2026, says data "is only available for electronically filed accounts, which currently stands at about 75%" of the accounts it expects each year. Its own guidance, updated 23 October 2026, says paper accounts by post end from 1 April 2028, so this gap should narrow.
The gap does not fall evenly. A house check in August 2026 found it concentrated among companies filing full and group accounts, not at the small end, so the top of the table is likely to be the most understated. A company is also missing if its newest accounts end before 2024, and a company held through a holding company is missing unless it has its own individual entry.
Two things pull the other way. A company can be active and carry a large balance sheet with no working business behind it. And the count does not filter by company type, so a limited liability partnership or a public company with an individual entry and held accounts would be counted, though the question as usually searched says "private".
Rounder numbers are available elsewhere. They tend to come with fewer footnotes, and I wish them well.
Why does the count use net assets and not turnover?
Net assets is the one size measure nearly every filer states. Of 3,596,405 accounts held for periods ending in calendar 2025, as at 8 November 2026, the share stating each figure was as follows, whatever the company's status and including dormant companies' accounts.
| Figure stated, accounts for periods ending in calendar 2025, as at 8 November 2026 | Filings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Net assets | 3,555,077 | 98.9 per cent |
| Cash | 1,431,618 | 39.8 per cent |
| Profit | 113,694 | 3.2 per cent |
| Turnover | 65,401 | 1.8 per cent |
Paper accounts, which often include full accounts showing turnover, are largely absent from these holdings, so the turnover share is understated. Even so, small companies "do not have to deliver a copy of the directors' report or the profit and loss account", in the words of the Companies House guidance updated 23 October 2026, and the government paused the change to that rule on 23 October 2026, as set out in the house's note on the small-company profit and loss pause.
A turnover count shows how little can be seen that way. As at 8 November 2026, among active companies with an individual holding more than 25 per cent of the shares, 36,210 had latest accounts stating turnover and 1,575 of those stated £10m or more. The 1,575 counted as at 8 November 2026 is not the number of such companies turning over £10m, only the number that said so on the accounts held.
Why does this count matter to a private banker?
The 103,910 companies counted as at 8 November 2026 are where the house would start looking for owners it calls the invisible wealthy; a company in the count need not belong to one. The house's position is that the larger opportunity lies with owners whose money sits in a profitable private company that never raised capital, so no funding round, press release or rich-list entry surfaces them. The house has not measured the overlap, so that is a position rather than a figure.
The filed balance sheet is the public window on those owners. It gives a banker a way to size a company in a patch before any conversation, and to separate a company of £10m of stated net assets from one of £1m, each as at the accounts date and subject to the limits above. It does not say the owner is ready to talk, has cash to place, or is anyone's client already.
A count of standing balance sheets says who might matter and is silent on timing. Timing comes from dated events on the same record, such as a members' voluntary liquidation with its sworn surplus, counted monthly in the UK Liquidity Ledger.
Frequently asked questions
How many UK companies have net assets of over £1m?
Among active, non-dormant companies with a current individual person with significant control, 103,910 stated net assets of £1m or more on their latest accounts, as at 8 November 2026. Companies controlled only through another company or with no current entry are outside that count, as are most paper filers, so the number for all UK companies is higher and is not given here.
How many UK private companies are controlled by one person?
The register cannot say exactly, because it records thresholds of control, not sole control. As at 8 November 2026, 51,779 companies with £1m or more of stated net assets had exactly one current entry, that entry an individual, within the 103,910 with at least one individual entry. A single entry does not rule out other shareholders below the threshold.
Do net assets of £1m mean the owner is a millionaire?
No. As at 8 November 2026, a company in this count has stated net assets of £1m or more, which belong to the company and are a book figure. The owner may hold part of the shares, may have personal debts, and may face tax on extracting value, and none of that appears in the company's accounts.
How many UK companies have net assets of more than £10m?
Among active companies with a current individual person with significant control, 8,198 stated net assets of £10m or more on their latest accounts, as at 8 November 2026. The house's coverage is thinner among companies filing full and group accounts than among small ones, on a house check in August 2026, so this is likely to be the most understated figure in the table.
Can you see a private company's turnover at Companies House?
Usually not. Of accounts held for periods ending in calendar 2025, as at 8 November 2026, 1.8 per cent stated turnover and 98.9 per cent stated net assets. Paper filings are largely absent from those holdings, so the true share is likely to be higher.
What is a person with significant control?
The GOV.UK guidance, updated 30 July 2026, says a person with significant control is usually someone with more than 25 per cent of the shares or voting rights, or who can appoint or remove a majority of directors, or who can otherwise influence or control the company. A company can have more than one.
How often is this count updated?
The page is refreshed in place on this address, and each refresh re-measures every figure and moves the date. The count stood at 104,005 on 2 November 2026 and 103,910 on 8 November 2026. Corrections are welcome at hello@joinwindfall.com.
Method
Measured on 8 November 2026 with measure-research-counts.ts, read-only, against the house's record of the public register. "Active" means Companies House status active. "Not dormant" means not carrying the dormant SIC code 99999; a dormant company coded otherwise can remain in the population. "Individual controller" means at least one current register entry of the individual kind, with no ceased date. "Latest accounts" means the most recent accounts the house holds for a period ending on or after 1 January 2024; a company whose newest held accounts are older is not counted. The accounts are electronically filed, with some paper filings the house has read beside them. The turnover count differs in population: it requires a current individual entry in any of the three share-ownership bands of the register, including where held as a member of a firm, and does not include entries based only on votes, director appointments or influence. The filing coverage table counts every accounts record held with a period ending in calendar 2025, whatever the company's status. The count is not filtered by company type. Three table rows (no net assets figure, under £500k, £2.5m to under £10m) and the 3.5 per cent share are arithmetic on the measured counts. No figure is summed across companies, no individual is named, and no net worth is stated for any person.
Sources
All read on 8 November 2026.
- Companies House, accounts as held by the house, and the register of people with significant control, measured 8 November 2026 with
measure-research-counts.ts. - GOV.UK, People with significant control (PSCs), updated 30 July 2026, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-significant-control-pscs.
- GOV.UK, Audit exemptions for private limited companies, https://www.gov.uk/audit-exemptions-for-private-limited-companies.
- Companies House, Accounts Data Product, last updated 7 November 2026, https://download.companieshouse.gov.uk/en_accountsdata.html.
- Companies House, Preparing and filing Companies House accounts, updated 23 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-of-a-company-annual-requirements/life-of-a-company-part-1-accounts.
Winny is the house’s pen name. This page is written by Windfall Intelligence Ltd from the UK public record, every figure re-measured on the date it carries, and checked by a person before publication. How these pages are made. Corrections to hello@joinwindfall.com.
Related reading
Small companies will still not file a profit and loss account: the 23 October 2026 pause, and what the balance sheet still tells you
What the 23 October 2026 announcement says, what each small-company filing option puts on the public record, and how to read net assets, cash, reserves and director's loans with care.
What a members' voluntary liquidation tells you about the shareholder
The most under-read liquidity signal on the UK public record, read from the adviser's side of the table, with the flow and the money measured.
The UK Liquidity Ledger: October 2026
The first monthly edition: solvent liquidations nearly doubled in October 2026, the month of the Budget, with the sums sworn and the firms that handle the work.