New hair and beauty companies in Northern Ireland
228 registered in the year to September 2026 and still active, one every 38.4 hours. That’s 11.8 for every 100,000 residents, below the UK’s 18.5, and twelfth of the 12 UK regions and nations.
Northern Ireland in three numbers
- 228new hair and beauty companies in the year to September 2026, still active
- 11.8for every 100,000 residents, against 18.5 for the UK
- 41%of its active hair and beauty companies are under two years old, against 35.9% for the UK
Every council area in Northern Ireland
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 108 | Belfast | 69 | 19.6 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 43% | 49 | 74% |
| 245 | Derry City and Strabane | 20 | 12.8 | 5.7 | 19 | 39% | 8 | 56% |
| 259 | Newry, Mourne and Down | 22 | 12.2 | 5.1 | 16 | 41% | 19 | 9% |
| 266 | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 27 | 12.0 | 4.5 | 14 | 44% | 16 | 41% |
| 280 | Lisburn and Castlereagh | 17 | 11.5 | 5.4 | 21 | 36% | 13 | 63% |
| 307 | Mid Ulster | 15 | 9.9 | 5.0 | 24 | 45% | 11 | 60% |
| 324 | Antrim and Newtownabbey | 14 | 9.2 | 4.9 | 27 | 38% | 10 | 22% |
| 332 | Mid and East Antrim | 12 | 8.6 | 4.9 | 30 | 30% | 10 | 50% |
| 334 | Fermanagh and Omagh | 10 | 8.5 | 5.3 | 37 | 50% | 9 | 80% |
| 338 | Ards and North Down | 14 | 8.4 | 4.4 | 26 | 36% | 12 | 72% |
| 356 | Causeway Coast and Glens | 8 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 43 | 49% | 7 | 47% |
Belfast has the highest rate among areas with 60,000 or more residents and 15 or more new companies, 19.6 for every 100,000 residents, plus or minus 4.6. It registers the most too, 69, one every 5.3 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 4 of the 11 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 Northern Ireland 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 Northern Ireland? 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.