FOI-2025-3130
You asked
I am looking for a list of independent paint distribution companies across the UK and as well a list of Timber merchants and Specialist joiners centres.
The main SIC codes that I am looking for are:
- 46730
- 47520
- 46130
- 47910
- 16230
- 95240
If you can provide me with a list of these stores across with the UK with the following info:
- Name of business
- Contact person/owner
- Postcode of Head office
- Contact number and Contact email
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. You asked us to provide statistics that explain the number of paint distribution companies, along with Timber Merchants and specialist joiner centres.
In answer to your first question, we have a publication called UK: Business, Activity, Size and Location and this is created from the Inter-departmental Business Register (IDBR) which holds all businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE. The publication is an annual snapshot of the IDBR taken in March. The latest data available are for 2025. The data were released in September 2025.
In the publication we break the number of UK businesses down by geography, employment size-band, industry and legal status.
If this is of interest to you then the easiest way to access the data is via the NOMIS data explorer tool, you will need to choose the UK Business Counts option. Data are held here back to 2010. Using NOMIS you can filter the data by legal status, geography, industry, year etc. This will allow you to view the number of businesses, with your chosen criteria, for the previous ten years.
In answer to your second question, unfortunately, we are unable to provide disclosive data (such as names, addresses, telephone numbers) as it is personal information. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board (ONS) 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.
If you require further assistance or guidance, please contact our Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) data service team at IDBRDAS@ons.gov.uk.