New hair and beauty companies in the East of England
1,116 registered in the year to September 2026 and still active, one every 7.8 hours. That’s 16.9 for every 100,000 residents, below the UK’s 18.5, and seventh of the 12 UK regions and nations.
The East of England in three numbers
- 1,116new hair and beauty companies in the year to September 2026, still active
- 16.9for every 100,000 residents, against 18.5 for the UK
- 34%of its active hair and beauty companies are under two years old, against 35.9% for the UK
Every council area in the East of England
| UK rank | Council area | New companies | Per 100,000 residents | Margin, plus or minus | One every (days) | Under 2 years old | Year before | From whole postcode districts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Brentwood | 29 | 36.8 | 13.3 | 12 | 40% | 24 | 0% |
| 10 | Hertsmere | 36 | 33.0 | 10.7 | 10 | 37% | 31 | 0% |
| 18 | Epping Forest | 44 | 31.7 | 9.4 | 8.3 | 37% | 38 | 43% |
| 35 | Norwich | 39 | 26.7 | 8.4 | 9.4 | 34% | 26 | 21% |
| 52 | Ipswich | 34 | 24.2 | 8.2 | 11 | 31% | 11 | 0% |
| 55 | Harlow | 24 | 24.1 | 9.7 | 15 | 39% | 14 | 0% |
| 58 | Luton | 56 | 23.8 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 41% | 59 | 0% |
| 66 | Southend-on-Sea | 43 | 23.3 | 6.9 | 8.5 | 33% | 31 | 49% |
| 75 | Broxbourne | 23 | 22.5 | 9.1 | 16 | 29% | 26 | 0% |
| 76 | Watford | 24 | 22.3 | 8.9 | 15 | 35% | 30 | 67% |
| 82 | Uttlesford | 21 | 21.7 | 9.3 | 17 | 32% | 12 | 10% |
| 95 | Dacorum | 33 | 20.6 | 7.0 | 11 | 34% | 19 | 21% |
| 106 | Peterborough | 44 | 19.8 | 5.8 | 8.2 | 35% | 34 | 63% |
| 115 | West Suffolk | 36 | 19.2 | 6.2 | 10 | 34% | 22 | 33% |
| 122 | Bedford | 37 | 18.7 | 6.0 | 10 | 39% | 38 | 63% |
| 135 | Tendring | 28 | 17.8 | 6.6 | 13 | 42% | 17 | 81% |
| 148 | Thurrock | 31 | 17.3 | 6.0 | 12 | 38% | 34 | 61% |
| 163 | Three Rivers | 16 | 16.5 | 8.1 | 23 | 29% | 15 | 0% |
| 165 | Colchester | 33 | 16.5 | 5.6 | 11 | 36% | 41 | 66% |
| 170 | Rochford | 15 | 16.3 | 8.3 | 25 | 34% | 18 | 54% |
| 172 | Stevenage | 15 | 16.3 | 8.2 | 24 | 33% | 13 | 0% |
| 176 | Broadland | 22 | 16.0 | 6.6 | 16 | 40% | 6 | 0% |
| 177 | St Albans | 24 | 16.0 | 6.4 | 15 | 27% | 14 | 25% |
| 181 | East Hertfordshire | 25 | 15.9 | 6.2 | 15 | 27% | 21 | 48% |
| 184 | Castle Point | 14 | 15.7 | 8.2 | 26 | 26% | 11 | 35% |
| 189 | Basildon | 30 | 15.5 | 5.5 | 12 | 29% | 26 | 63% |
| 192 | Central Bedfordshire | 49 | 15.3 | 4.3 | 7.4 | 36% | 53 | 39% |
| 197 | Chelmsford | 29 | 15.1 | 5.5 | 13 | 29% | 25 | 38% |
| 199 | Maldon | 11 | 15.0 | 9.1 | 35 | 31% | 9 | 19% |
| 212 | Huntingdonshire | 28 | 14.6 | 5.4 | 13 | 34% | 19 | 43% |
| 242 | East Cambridgeshire | 12 | 12.9 | 7.2 | 30 | 35% | 9 | 0% |
| 244 | Welwyn Hatfield | 16 | 12.8 | 6.4 | 23 | 33% | 22 | 58% |
| 247 | Breckland | 19 | 12.8 | 5.8 | 19 | 34% | 9 | 58% |
| 257 | Cambridge | 18 | 12.2 | 5.6 | 20 | 29% | 13 | 0% |
| 265 | Braintree | 20 | 12.0 | 5.3 | 18 | 32% | 20 | 20% |
| 269 | South Norfolk | 18 | 11.9 | 5.5 | 20 | 35% | 11 | 45% |
| 281 | Fenland | 12 | 11.5 | 6.5 | 30 | 39% | 22 | 0% |
| 291 | North Hertfordshire | 15 | 10.8 | 5.5 | 25 | 34% | 24 | 0% |
| 295 | East Suffolk | 26 | 10.6 | 4.0 | 14 | 35% | 30 | 64% |
| 309 | South Cambridgeshire | 17 | 9.8 | 4.6 | 21 | 27% | 13 | 17% |
| 311 | Great Yarmouth | 10 | 9.7 | 6.1 | 37 | 30% | 7 | 0% |
| 328 | North Norfolk | 9 | 8.9 | 5.7 | 40 | 36% | 5 | 43% |
| 329 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 14 | 8.8 | 4.7 | 26 | 33% | 14 | 50% |
| 347 | Babergh | 7 | 7.6 | 5.5 | 49 | 29% | 9 | 27% |
| 353 | Mid Suffolk | 7 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 53 | 24% | 6 | 44% |
Brentwood has the highest rate among areas with 60,000 or more residents and 15 or more new companies, 36.8 for every 100,000 residents, plus or minus 13.3. Luton registers the most, 56, one every 6.5 days.
Council figures are estimates. The register gives a postcode district, and a district that crosses a boundary is shared out by postcode counts. The last column says how much of each area’s count comes from districts wholly inside it, and for 33 of the 45 areas here it's under half, so treat those as rough.
The year before counts the companies from that year that are still active now. Some have already closed, so every rise looks bigger than it really is.
How the East of England compares
| Rank | Region or nation | New companies | Per 100,000 residents | One every (hours) | Under 2 years old | Year before |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 2,710 | 29.7 | 3.2 | 35% | 2,244 |
| 2 | North West | 1,598 | 20.6 | 5.5 | 38% | 1,287 |
| 3 | West Midlands | 1,195 | 19.3 | 7.3 | 38% | 885 |
| 4 | North East | 510 | 18.5 | 17.2 | 41% | 417 |
| 5 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,030 | 18.2 | 8.5 | 38% | 798 |
| 6 | Scotland | 961 | 17.3 | 9.1 | 38% | 745 |
| 7 | East of England | 1,116 | 16.9 | 7.8 | 34% | 953 |
| 8 | East Midlands | 849 | 16.7 | 10.3 | 36% | 629 |
| 9 | South East | 1,512 | 15.6 | 5.8 | 33% | 1,182 |
| 10 | Wales | 454 | 14.3 | 19.3 | 37% | 358 |
| 11 | South West | 710 | 12.0 | 12.3 | 33% | 557 |
| 12 | Northern Ireland | 228 | 11.8 | 38.4 | 41% | 165 |
How these were counted, with every limit, is on the salon start-up league, which has every council area in the UK in one table.
Just set up on your own in the East of England? Here’s what to sort before your first paying client.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Companies House and Office for National Statistics. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Figures for the year to 30 September 2026, from the October 2026 snapshot of the register. Download every council area as a CSV.