Belfast, Northern Ireland

What Belfast is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 9,782 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

9,782 businesses on file · 106 trades · 111 sectors · · built from geonet.belfast on 2026-11-07

Businesses9,782
0% carry coordinates
Specialised in11
trades above the national pattern
Places of worship79
Franchise brands54
already operating here

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Belfast → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.

1

The local economy

What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.

Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.

The two biggest markets here

Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.

Business density—
Breadth of the base378
broad — 81 industry groups, top three 24.5%
Survival the mix implies56.3%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS18.8%
of which 67.7% unambiguous

What this city is specialised in

Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 2 UK metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.

Thin against the national pattern

Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.

The base against the entry screen

Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.

Enter
25.1%
461 businesses
Caution
53.1%
975 businesses
Structure decides
21.8%
401 businesses
Not screened
0%
0 businesses

How to read the survival figure

Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.

Weighted over 99% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And what it does not measure

A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.

2

Who lives here, and who the city is for

The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.

No census subdivision is mapped for uk-belfast in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.

3

The communities the register shows

A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.

CommunityInstitutions WorshipTrade Where it shows
Irish 6 2 31
trade on Sinclair Wharf (3)
The Society For Irish Church Missions · Irish Table Tennis Association Ulster · Irish League Of Credit Unions
Chinese 2 1 14
trade on Upper Lisburn Rd (2)
Chinese Welfare Association · Chinese Christian Church
Dutch — — 11
Scottish — — 5
Italian — — 4
Thai — — 2
French — — 2
Turkish — — 2
Jewish — — 2
Spanish-speaking — — 1
German — — 1
4

Where the communities are

Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.

Irish

trade on Sinclair Wharf (3)

Chinese

trade on Upper Lisburn Rd (2)
5

What the city is made of

Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 9,782 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Business 293 3% association (145) · accounting (87) · consulting (24) · government (17) · foundation (12) · auction (4) · vending (2) · bank (1)
Education 245 2.5% school (139) · library (63) · garden (43)
Living 191 2% place of worship (79) · cleaning (38) · furniture (37) · fire safety (14) · appliances (7) · daycare (4) · apartment (4) · property (4)
advertising 174 1.8%
legal 170 1.7%
Dining 161 1.6% restaurant (120) · pizza (33) · diner (4) · pubs (3) · fast food (1)
Retail 127 1.3% flowers (46) · jeweler (30) · photography (22) · gifts (9) · pet supply (8) · department store (6) · antiques (3) · discount store (2)
Finance 117 1.2% bank (74) · mortgage (25) · insurance (14) · credit union (2) · loans (1) · garden (1)
beautysalons 105 1.1%
cafes 105 1.1% credit union (1)
taxis 103 1.1% orchard (1)
Construction 94 1% plumbing (26) · painting (13) · machinery (13) · heating and cooling (10) · carpet (8) · roofing (8) · flooring (7) · electrician (5)
engineer 93 1%
Beauty 92 0.9% dentist (72) · hair stylist (20)
Food 82 0.8% grocer (27) · baker (24) · catering (15) · fruit (8) · ice cream (7) · seafood (1)
Travel 71 0.7% travel agent (51) · hotel (16) · airline (4)
booksmusic 54 0.6%
wine 54 0.6%
electric 49 0.5%
housewares 46 0.5% orchard (1)
6

The franchises already here

Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.

32 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.

BrandCategory HereWorldwide
Pizza Hut pizza 5 10,000
St. John retail 5 —
Salvation Army retail 4 —
Budget Rent A Car car 3 1,900
Dunnes Stores retail 3 151
Holiday Inn businesshotel 3 —
Burger King fastfood 2 11,000
Dunkin' Donuts donuts 2 6,000
Hertz Rent A Car car 2 7,000
LA Fitness fitness 2 —
The Body Shop retail 2 —
Allied Irish Bank bank 1 —
Cartridge World retail 1 1,400
Cash Converters retail 1 16
Cash Store cash 1 —
Disney Store retail 1 —
Holiday Inn Express familyhotel 1 —
La Salsa fastfood 1 100
Laura Ashley retail 1 —
Sports World retail 1 —
Subway Restaurants deli 1 27,254
Thomas Cook travel 1 700
Tesco name only retail 15 1,780
Manor name only retail 7 —
Eason name only retail 6 58
Progressive name only supermarket 6 150
Michaels name only retail 5 805
Limited name only retail 4 —
Europcar name only car 3 2,825
Arnotts name only retail 2 2
Centra name only convenience 2 350
Coach name only luggage 2 —
HomeBase locations name only retail 2 320
Safeway name only supermarket 2 1,767
SuperValu name only supermarket 2 —
Waterstones name only retail 2 193
Blackwell name only book 1 6
Burton name only retail 1 —
Cineworld name only entertainment 1 74
Debenhams name only retail 1 126
Greyhound name only travel 1 —
Halfords name only retail 1 420
Honda name only car 1 —
HSBC name only bank 1 —
Lexus name only luxurycar 1 —
Makro name only home 1 33
Midas name only auto 1 1,800
Morrisons name only supermarket 1 368
Mothercare name only retail 1 —
Primark name only retail 1 160
Radisson name only upscalehotel 1 —
Raffles name only luxuryhotel 1 8
Starbucks name only coffee 1 3,500
SuperCuts name only inc 1 2,000
7

Real estate as a local trade

Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.

Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.

Selling homes

5312
1 firms · LQ 0.06

Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.

Named in the register

Owning and letting

5311
4 firms · LQ 1.89

Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.

Named in the register

Managing for owners

5313
4 firms · LQ 0.56

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register
  • Blakiston Houston Estate Co — Carrowreagh Rd
  • Houseproud Services — 519 Antrim Rd, 15
  • Property Link — 195 Lisburn Rd, 9
  • Work West — 301 Glen Rd, 11

Financing it

5222
26 firms · LQ 1.66

Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.

Named in the register
  • Aspire Micro Loans For Business — 5 Union Street
  • Freelance Mortgage Services — Marlborough House
  • GMC Mortgages and Financial Services — 459 Ormeau Road
  • Mortgage Advice Shop — Hi-Park Centre
  • Mortgage Matters — 330 Upper Newtownards Road
  • Mortgage Shop — 364 Woodstock Road
  • Mortgages First Belfast — 135 Bloomfield Avenue
  • One Stop Mortgage Shop — 4 Wellington Place
  • The Independent Mortgage Shop — 411 Lisburn Road
  • The Mortgage Packaging Shop — Po Box 681
  • The Mortgage Shop — 132 Great Victoria Street
  • The Mortgage Shop — 197 Falls Road
  • The Mortgage Shop — 63 Saintfield Road
  • The R Mortgage Co — 285 Woodstock Road

On "how many doors"

How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.

8

Work on the go, mobile services

The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you. Each service opens a page on Ultimate 411 to request a quote or book a time.

A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 320 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 1 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.

The 320 Service=1 rows in search.local: work on the go, mobile services, where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.

home services

Accessible Home Renovations Air Filtration & Purifier Installation Short-Term Rental Turnover Appliance Installation Artificial Turf Installation Babyproofing & Safety Installs Electric Baseboard Heater Installation Basement Renovation Bathroom Fan Replacement & Installation Bathroom Renovation BBQ Cleaning Blinds & Shutters Installation Cabinet Refacing Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Carpet Installation Caulking & Sealing Ceiling Fan Installation Ceiling Design & Repair Central Vacuum Installation Countertop Installation Custom Closet Design & Installation Decorative Rock & Gravel Deep Cleaning Drain Cleaning Dryer Vent Cleaning & Hose Installation Drywall Repair Air Duct & Furnace Cleaning Electrical Inspection Electrical Panel & Breaker Upgrade Errand Running EV Charger Installation & Service Exterior Painting Faucet Installation Fence & Deck Staining Furnace & Air Conditioner Installation Furnace & AC Repair Furniture Assembly Garden Weeding & Maintenance Grocery Pickup & Delivery Gutter Cleaning Handyman (General Repairs) Hardwood Flooring Installation Hedge & Shrub Trimming Home Project Design Consultation House Cleaning House Sitting HVAC Tune-Up & Maintenance Insulation Installation Interior Painting Junk Removal & Dump Runs Kitchen Design Consultation Kitchen Renovation Laminate & Vinyl Flooring Installation Landscape Design & Planting Lawn Aeration & Seeding Lawn Leveling Lawn Mowing Fall Leaf Cleanup Light Fixture, Switch & Outlet Installation Material Take-off & Estimate Move-In / Move-Out Cleaning Moving Help (Labour Only) Moving with Truck Office Cleaning Outdoor Blinds & Shades Personal Shopper Picture & Mirror Hanging Pipe Insulation Plaster Wall Repair Pot Light Installation Pressure Washing Move Things Around the House Wiring Upgrade & Rewiring Driveway & Sidewalk Salting Shelving & Closet Organizer Installation Shower Valve Replacement Sink Installation Smart Camera & Doorbell Installation Smoke & CO Alarm Installation Snow Shovelling & Removal Sod Installation Lawn Sprinkler Installation Irrigation Repair & Maintenance Packing & Unpacking Sump Pump Installation & Replacement Smart Thermostat Installation Tile Installation Toilet Installation Toilet Repair Interior Trim & Baseboard Repair TV & Picture Mounting Wall & Ceiling Texturing Wall Panels & Accent Walls Wallpaper Installation & Removal Wardrobe Styling Water Damage Extraction Water Heater Installation (Tank & Tankless) Water Softener & Filtration Water Valve Replacement Weed Control Window AC Installation Window Cleaning Window Film Installation Spring & Fall Yard Cleanup
9

Schools and colleges

wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.

InstitutionTypeStudentsFounded
Open University Ireland University — —
QUB University — 1845
Queen's Belfast University — —

In the business register

Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.

school 139daycare 4
10

Health and care

What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.

Medical clinics2
Pharmacies1
Dental practices72

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • Armagh Community Hospital
  • Templemore Health Centre — 98A Templemore Avenue
  • Whiterock Health Centre — 6 Whiterock Grove
  • Belfast City Hospital
  • Shaftesbury Square Hospital — 116-120 Great Victoria Street
  • Hospital Services — Adelaide Indust Est, 12
  • Earlswood Veterinary Hospital — 193 Belmont Road
  • Holywood Arches Health Centre — Westminster Avenue
  • Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital — Grosvenor Road
  • Belvoir Park Hospital — Hospital Road
  • Mater Infirmorum Hospital — Crumlin Road, 14
  • Skegoneill Health Centre — 195 SKEGONEILL AV
  • Musgrave Park Hospital — Stockman's Lane
  • Cherryvalley Health Centre — Kings Square

geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.

14

What this record cannot tell you

Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.

  • No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
  • wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
  • No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
  • 100.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.

Built from

  • geonet.belfast — the local business register
  • wander.regions — city name, population, metro
  • search.local — trait vocabulary and the come-to-you services
  • search.cozfranchises — 2,024 franchise brands