New hair and beauty companies in the South East
1,512 registered in the year to September 2026 and still active, one every 5.8 hours. That’s 15.6 for every 100,000 residents, below the UK’s 18.5, and ninth of the 12 UK regions and nations.
The South East in three numbers
- 1,512new hair and beauty companies in the year to September 2026, still active
- 15.6for every 100,000 residents, against 18.5 for the UK
- 33%of its active hair and beauty companies are under two years old, against 35.9% for the UK
Every council area in the South East
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Spelthorne | 28 | 26.5 | 9.7 | 13 | 42% | 20 | 0% |
| 37 | Dartford | 33 | 26.1 | 8.9 | 11 | 39% | 19 | 33% |
| 50 | Milton Keynes | 75 | 24.3 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 39% | 62 | 68% |
| 64 | Gravesham | 26 | 23.4 | 9.0 | 14 | 41% | 25 | 38% |
| 71 | Woking | 24 | 22.9 | 9.1 | 15 | 39% | 15 | 29% |
| 81 | Southampton | 56 | 21.7 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 37% | 34 | 71% |
| 91 | Rushmoor | 22 | 20.8 | 8.7 | 17 | 37% | 14 | 50% |
| 94 | Epsom and Ewell | 17 | 20.6 | 9.7 | 21 | 34% | 16 | 0% |
| 98 | Elmbridge | 29 | 20.3 | 7.4 | 13 | 29% | 16 | 38% |
| 99 | Slough | 34 | 20.3 | 6.8 | 11 | 34% | 22 | 0% |
| 104 | Guildford | 30 | 20.0 | 7.1 | 12 | 33% | 12 | 66% |
| 109 | Mole Valley | 17 | 19.5 | 9.2 | 21 | 28% | 5 | 63% |
| 113 | Eastbourne | 20 | 19.3 | 8.5 | 18 | 39% | 17 | 40% |
| 116 | Reading | 35 | 19.1 | 6.3 | 10 | 35% | 16 | 0% |
| 119 | Test Valley | 26 | 19.0 | 7.3 | 14 | 34% | 13 | 47% |
| 120 | Crawley | 23 | 18.7 | 7.6 | 16 | 42% | 16 | 0% |
| 125 | Cherwell | 32 | 18.4 | 6.4 | 12 | 34% | 17 | 73% |
| 128 | Havant | 23 | 18.2 | 7.4 | 16 | 32% | 12 | 13% |
| 129 | Tandridge | 16 | 18.1 | 8.8 | 22 | 32% | 15 | 18% |
| 130 | Portsmouth | 38 | 18.0 | 5.7 | 9.6 | 39% | 50 | 79% |
| 131 | Reigate and Banstead | 29 | 18.0 | 6.6 | 13 | 30% | 17 | 0% |
| 137 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 28 | 17.6 | 6.5 | 13 | 29% | 18 | 0% |
| 140 | Canterbury | 29 | 17.5 | 6.4 | 13 | 38% | 24 | 88% |
| 158 | Dover | 20 | 16.6 | 7.3 | 18 | 36% | 14 | 80% |
| 159 | Worthing | 19 | 16.5 | 7.5 | 19 | 30% | 17 | 64% |
| 179 | Buckinghamshire | 93 | 16.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 28% | 57 | 56% |
| 182 | Medway | 46 | 15.9 | 4.6 | 7.9 | 35% | 47 | 15% |
| 193 | Bracknell Forest | 20 | 15.3 | 6.7 | 18 | 35% | 13 | 49% |
| 198 | Winchester | 21 | 15.1 | 6.5 | 18 | 34% | 22 | 48% |
| 206 | Arun | 25 | 14.8 | 5.7 | 14 | 37% | 16 | 87% |
| 207 | Hart | 15 | 14.7 | 7.4 | 24 | 35% | 9 | 73% |
| 208 | Mid Sussex | 24 | 14.6 | 5.9 | 15 | 33% | 22 | 0% |
| 211 | Runnymede | 14 | 14.6 | 7.8 | 27 | 33% | 14 | 30% |
| 213 | Brighton and Hove | 41 | 14.5 | 4.4 | 8.8 | 30% | 44 | 19% |
| 217 | Adur | 9 | 14.2 | 9.2 | 40 | 29% | 2 | 65% |
| 222 | Tonbridge and Malling | 19 | 13.9 | 6.2 | 19 | 31% | 21 | 68% |
| 224 | Fareham | 16 | 13.9 | 6.8 | 23 | 29% | 17 | 56% |
| 225 | Oxford | 23 | 13.7 | 5.6 | 16 | 42% | 20 | 0% |
| 228 | Maidstone | 26 | 13.4 | 5.2 | 14 | 32% | 26 | 70% |
| 231 | Ashford | 19 | 13.3 | 6.0 | 19 | 30% | 17 | 84% |
| 232 | Wokingham | 25 | 13.3 | 5.2 | 15 | 33% | 22 | 44% |
| 233 | Lewes | 14 | 13.2 | 7.0 | 27 | 41% | 12 | 59% |
| 235 | Gosport | 11 | 13.2 | 7.8 | 34 | 33% | 12 | 64% |
| 239 | Surrey Heath | 12 | 13.1 | 7.3 | 29 | 22% | 8 | 8% |
| 251 | Sevenoaks | 15 | 12.6 | 6.3 | 24 | 31% | 14 | 13% |
| 252 | Thanet | 18 | 12.5 | 5.8 | 20 | 30% | 14 | 100% |
| 255 | Chichester | 16 | 12.4 | 6.1 | 23 | 28% | 10 | 49% |
| 258 | Folkestone and Hythe | 14 | 12.2 | 6.5 | 27 | 30% | 14 | 95% |
| 260 | Basingstoke and Deane | 24 | 12.1 | 4.9 | 16 | 35% | 23 | 85% |
| 270 | Horsham | 18 | 11.9 | 5.5 | 20 | 38% | 13 | 11% |
| 273 | Rother | 11 | 11.7 | 6.8 | 33 | 28% | 9 | 36% |
| 275 | West Oxfordshire | 14 | 11.7 | 6.1 | 26 | 27% | 12 | 28% |
| 279 | Tunbridge Wells | 14 | 11.5 | 6.1 | 26 | 25% | 9 | 36% |
| 285 | Swale | 18 | 11.1 | 5.2 | 20 | 43% | 20 | 73% |
| 289 | East Hampshire | 14 | 10.9 | 5.7 | 26 | 31% | 14 | 14% |
| 292 | Eastleigh | 15 | 10.7 | 5.3 | 24 | 25% | 19 | 0% |
| 297 | Hastings | 9 | 10.4 | 6.6 | 39 | 40% | 10 | 0% |
| 300 | Wealden | 17 | 10.3 | 4.8 | 21 | 28% | 16 | 58% |
| 302 | Waverley | 14 | 10.2 | 5.3 | 26 | 24% | 13 | 29% |
| 305 | Isle of Wight | 14 | 9.9 | 5.2 | 26 | 38% | 13 | 100% |
| 308 | New Forest | 17 | 9.9 | 4.6 | 21 | 26% | 16 | 81% |
| 310 | West Berkshire | 16 | 9.8 | 4.8 | 23 | 22% | 9 | 37% |
| 322 | South Oxfordshire | 15 | 9.3 | 4.8 | 25 | 32% | 16 | 20% |
| 341 | Vale of White Horse | 12 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 30 | 29% | 12 | 16% |
Spelthorne has the highest rate among areas with 60,000 or more residents and 15 or more new companies, 26.5 for every 100,000 residents, plus or minus 9.7. Buckinghamshire registers the most, 93, one every 3.9 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 37 of the 64 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 South East 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 South East? 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.