FOI reference: FOI-2025-2596
You asked
I would like to request a spreadsheet containing a list of UK registered businesses, including:
- Business name
- Location (city or postcode area)
- Number of employees at each business
We said
Thank you for your freedom of information request asking for a list of UK Businesses including their business names, location and number of employees.
We are unable to provide the information you have asked for due to our policy of not releasing disclosive data. The data held on the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) comes from a number of sources, principally HMRC and ONS business surveys.
Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to disclose information held by our organisation for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individual businesses can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
You may wish to try Companies House, who may be able to assist further.