Who owns UK companies in Defence activities?

236 of the 1,020 companies registered under SIC 84220 (Defence activities) filed a list of shareholders with their most recent confirmation statement. Between them, those lists name 454 individual shareholders and 113 companies, trusts and other entities.

In this industry:

• 34% are majority-owned by another company (among companies with one class of shares), compared with 22% of all UK companies.
• 3.4% have six or more shareholders, compared with 9.6% of all UK companies — less than half the national rate.
• 13% file full, group or medium-sized accounts, a sign of larger businesses, compared with 8.2% of all UK companies.

How companies in this industry are owned

* Among the 68 companies in this industry that have a single class of shares and state the number of shares allotted, where a holding's share of the company can be read directly from the filing. A dash means fewer than 30 companies, too few to report.

Company size and age

The median company in this industry was incorporated 8.9 years ago (all UK companies: 8.5 years).

Related industries

• Regulation of health care, education, cultural and other social services, not incl. social security SIC 84120 · 806 companies · 7.4% majority-owned by a company
• Fire service activities SIC 84250 · 757 companies · 22% majority-owned by a company
• General public administration activities SIC 84110 · 255 companies · 16% majority-owned by a company
• Public order and safety activities SIC 84240 · 230 companies · 9.5% majority-owned by a company
• Regulation of and contribution to more efficient operation of businesses SIC 84130 · 192 companies · 17% majority-owned by a company
• Justice and judicial activities SIC 84230 · 70 companies
• Foreign affairs SIC 84210 · 20 companies
• Compulsory social security activities SIC 84300 · 19 companies

Corporate shareholders in this industry

All 113 companies and other entities named as shareholders on the latest confirmation statements of companies under SIC 84220, ranked by how many of those companies they hold shares in. 4 of them hold shares in more than one company in this industry. Trusts and individuals are not named.

About this data

Figures come from the shareholder lists in each company's most recent Companies House confirmation statement (form CS01) that contained one, filed between 16 February 2021 and 4 June 2026. They are as filed and are not restated for later share transfers. Shares held in treasury are excluded. Shareholders are classed as individuals, companies, non-UK entities, trusts or nominees from the names as filed.

Every company's own shareholder register, officers, filings and accounts are available through the OpenRegistry API and MCP server, live from Companies House.