Glasgow, Scotland

What Glasgow is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 22,461 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

22,461 businesses on file · 142 trades · 118 sectors · · built from geonet.glasgow on 2026-11-07

Businesses22,461
100% carry coordinates
Specialised in12
trades above the national pattern
Places of worship196
Franchise brands95
already operating here
Known for

largest city in Scotland

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Glasgow → — 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 base311
broad — 97 industry groups, top three 20.3%
Survival the mix implies56.5%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS23.1%
of which 69.1% 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%
1,296 businesses
Caution
55.9%
2,905 businesses
Structure decides
19.1%
992 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 99.4% 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-glasgow 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
Scottish 51 10 244
institutions on Hampden Park (3) · West George Street (2) · Bath St (2)
trade on Shops (6) · Waterloo Street (3) · Great Western Road (3) · Superstores (2)
Scottish Youth Hostels Association · Scottish Independent Book Makers Association · Scottish Bookmakers Protection Association
Jewish 2 1 6
Jewish Representative Council · Glasgow Jewish Housing Association
Chinese 1 1 42
trade on Crow Road (2) · Tollcross Road (2) · Dumbarton Road (2)
Glasgow Chinese Christian Church
French 1 — 10
Alliance Francaise de Glasgow
Islamic 1 — 7
trade on Mosque Avenue (2)
Muslim Elderly Day Care Centre
Greek 1 1 6
Greek Orthodox Church
Persian 1 — —
Iranian Scottish Association
Dutch — — 13
trade on Scotland Street (2)
Italian — — 9
Irish — — 7
Polish — — 5
Turkish — — 5
Thai — — 4
German — — 3
Welsh — — 3
South Asian — — 2
Swiss — — 2
Caribbean — — 2
Spanish-speaking — — 1
Russian — — 1
Norwegian — — 1
Swedish — — 1
Indigenous — — 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.

Scottish

institutions on Hampden Park (3) · West George Street (2) · Bath St (2)
trade on Shops (6) · Waterloo Street (3) · Great Western Road (3) · Superstores (2)

Chinese

trade on Crow Road (2) · Tollcross Road (2) · Dumbarton Road (2)

Islamic

trade on Mosque Avenue (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 22,461 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Business 619 2.8% association (285) · accounting (177) · consulting (68) · bank (31) · government (19) · auction (12) · foundation (11) · vending (10)
Construction 597 2.7% plumbing (139) · painting (106) · roofing (94) · machinery (80) · heating and cooling (59) · electrician (46) · flooring (32) · carpet (26)
Living 557 2.5% place of worship (196) · furniture (83) · cleaning (81) · property (62) · appliances (36) · fire safety (31) · veterinary (21) · daycare (16)
Education 538 2.4% school (381) · library (90) · garden (63) · writing (4)
advertising 463 2.1% bankruptcy (1)
Dining 384 1.7% restaurant (268) · fast food (72) · pizza (25) · diner (10) · chinese restaurant (5) · steakhouse (2) · mexican food (1) · pubs (1)
Retail 314 1.4% flowers (93) · jeweler (70) · photography (60) · department store (21) · antiques (18) · gifts (12) · discount store (11) · pet supply (10)
Finance 302 1.3% insurance (136) · bank (96) · mortgage (57) · loans (5) · credit union (5) · garden (2) · landscaping (1)
engineer 288 1.3%
legal 280 1.2%
cafes 271 1.2%
Travel 267 1.2% travel agent (144) · hotel (107) · parking (7) · motel (5) · airline (3) · bnb (1)
construction 264 1.2%
Automotive 258 1.1% autos (214) · tires (28) · auto repair (8) · auction (3) · scooter (2) · real estate (1) · auto parts (1) · detailing (1)
Food 206 0.9% grocer (107) · baker (47) · catering (31) · seafood (7) · ice cream (7) · fruit (5) · real estate (1) · bank (1)
consulting 176 0.8%
emergency 170 0.8% credit union (1)
Beauty 160 0.7% dentist (126) · hair stylist (33) · orchard (1)
bars 156 0.7%
beautysalons 153 0.7%
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.

52 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
Royal Bank bank 23 —
Royal Mail post 17 14,300
Salvation Army retail 13 —
Pizza Hut pizza 10 10,000
Costa Coffee coffee 9 755
Thomas Cook travel 8 700
Burger King fastfood 7 11,000
Blockbuster Video video 5 5,900
Holiday Inn businesshotel 4 —
Enterprise Rent A Car car 3 5,400
La Senza lingerie 3 —
The Body Shop retail 3 —
Best Western businesshotel 2 4,200
Cartridge World retail 2 1,400
Dunnes Stores retail 2 151
Flight Centre travel 2 1,500
Harley Davidson locations motorcycle 2 —
Hollywood Video video 2 2,700
House of Fraser retail 2 —
Laura Ashley retail 2 —
Sign-A-Rama specialty 2 800
Sunglass Hut retail 2 —
Whittard of Chelsea retail 2 —
Abbey National bank 1 —
Allied Irish Bank bank 1 —
Bargain Shop retail 1 165
Baskin Robbins dessert 1 2,800
Calvin Klein mensunderwear 1 —
Crystal Glass auto 1 —
Disney Store retail 1 —
Driving Force car 1 10
Hertz Rent A Car car 1 7,000
Hollywood Bowl entertainment 1 24
JD Sports retail 1 400
Kurt Geiger retail 1 —
La Vie en Rose retail 1 150
Links of London retail 1 —
Nine West retail 1 —
Polo Ralph Lauren — 1 —
Shop 'n Save supermarket 1 37
St. John retail 1 —
Stop & Shop supermarket 1 360
Thomas Pink retail 1 60
Farmfoods name only supermarket 20 300
Coach name only luggage 19 —
Safeway name only supermarket 12 1,767
Somerfield name only supermarket 12 1,132
ASDA name only supermarket 10 243
Tesco name only retail 10 1,780
Starbucks name only coffee 9 3,500
Burton name only retail 5 —
Michaels name only retail 5 805
Morrisons name only supermarket 5 368
Roots name only retail 5 145
Lexus name only luxurycar 4 —
Limited name only retail 4 —
Manor name only retail 4 —
Armani name only fashion 3 —
Borders name only book 3 559
Honda name only car 3 —
Primark name only retail 3 160
Progressive name only supermarket 3 150
Waterstones name only retail 3 193
Benetton name only retail 2 —
Debenhams name only retail 2 126
Eason name only retail 2 58
Europcar name only car 2 2,825
Halfords name only retail 2 420
HSBC name only bank 2 —
Midas name only auto 2 1,800
Mothercare name only retail 2 —
Papyrus name only retail 2 170
Peebles name only retail 2 —
Renaissance name only upscalehotel 2 —
Toyota name only car 2 —
Travelodge name only economyhotel 2 —
Bebe name only retail 1 —
BestBuy name only inc 1 940
Centra name only convenience 1 350
Champion name only supermarket 1 1,000
FastFrame name only specialty 1 300
Hallmark name only greetingcards 1 5,600
HomeBase locations name only retail 1 320
Hyatt name only upscalehotel 1 —
IKEA name only retail 1 250
Jeep name only suv 1 —
Krystal name only fastfood 1 400
Lacoste name only — 1 —
Londis name only supermarket 1 2,100
MANGO name only retail 1 850
Radisson name only upscalehotel 1 —
Raffles name only luxuryhotel 1 8
Stitches name only retail 1 —
Versace name only designerclothing 1 61
Wolford name only retail 1 —
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
32 firms · LQ 0.69

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

Named in the register
  • B I K Properties — 25 Sandyford Place
  • Blackmill Properties — Castlehouse; Allanfauld Road
  • D B I Properties — 82 Mitchell Street Glasgow
  • Gcs Maintenance — 216 St Vincent Street
  • Glasgow Property and Investment Centre — 251 Great Western Road
  • L and D Design and Build — 18 Westminster Terrace
  • Mitchell Properties — 23-24 Royal Crescent
  • N C City and Home Secured — c/o James Sellars House; 144 West George Street
  • NRBS Finance and Real Estate — 11 Bothwell Street
  • Quality Guaranteed — 130 St Vincent Street
  • R and R Properties Falkirk — 22 Baronhill; Cumbernauld
  • Rainbow Room Properties — 125 Buchanan Street
  • Redpath Bruce Property Management — 103 West Regent Street
  • W and G Scotland — 17-21 Newton Street

Owning and letting

5311
4 firms · LQ 0.67

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

Named in the register
  • Artroyd Apartments — 27 Watt Street
  • Embassy Apartments — 8 Kelvin Drive
  • Reith Lambert Facilities Management — c/o Wylie & Bisset; 135 Wellington Street
  • The Ants African Network for Trade and Services Lt — 1037 Sauchiehall Street

Managing for owners

5313
62 firms · LQ 3.06

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register
  • Douglas Dickson Property Management — 3 Fitzroy Place; Sauchiehall Street
  • G2 Property Management — 216 St Vincent Street
  • Glasgow Business Park Management — The Ca'D'Oro; 45 Gordon Street
  • Jones Lang Lasalle Scotland — Charlotte House; Queen Street
  • Land Securities Properties — 302-304 St Vincent Street
  • M C P I — Pollok Castle Estate; Newton Mearns
  • Merchant Executive Properties — 26 Springfield Court
  • Oakmount Properties — 216 St Vincent Street
  • P and W Properties — 195 Edinburgh Road
  • Ross and Liddell — 60 St Enoch Square
  • Serco — Kentigern House Brown Street
  • Stelmain — Turnberry House; 175 West George Street
  • Walker Sandford Property Management — St Georges Building; 5 St Vincent Place
  • Wilmac Management Services — 14 Chesterfield Avenue

Building new homes

2361
4 firms · LQ 0.7

Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.

Named in the register
  • Craigieburn Roofing and Building Contractors — 40 Gorget Avenue; Knightswood
  • Drake and Scull Scotland — 203 Woodville Street; Govan
  • G M G Contractors — 142 Swinton Road; Baillieston
  • Park Avenue Caravan Co — 77 Torrisdale Street

Financing it

5222
62 firms · LQ 1.4

Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.

Named in the register
  • Anne and Lawrie Mortgages — 82 Mitchell Street
  • Direct Mortgages Scotland — 10 Sandyford Pl, G3
  • I C Loans — Central Chambers
  • Independent Life and Mortgage Scotland — 19 Sandyford Place
  • Metropolitan Tenants House Purchase Advisory Burea — 81 Berkeley Street
  • Mortgage Advice Bureau — 83 Union Street
  • Mortgage and Loan Services — Argyle Street
  • Mortgage and Loans Services — 1007 Argyle Street
  • Mortgage Management — Olympic House
  • Mortgage Matters — 113 West Regent Street
  • Mortgage Shops — 10 Brouster Gate; East Kilbride
  • Mortgages PLC — PO Box 25173
  • R C C Business Mortgages — Charles Oakley House; 125 West Regent Street
  • Sloans — 62 Argyll Arcade

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
Strathclyde University — —
University of Glasgow 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 381daycare 16
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 clinics8
Pharmacies8
Dental practices126

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • Hairmyres Hospital — Departments
  • Royal Hospital for Sick Children — Yorkhill
  • Queen Mothers Hospital — Yorkhill, G3
  • Canniesburn Hospital — Switchback Road; Bearsden
  • Drumchapel Hospital — 129 Drumchapel Road
  • Drumchapel Health Centre — 80-90 Kinfauns Drive
  • Cowglen Hospital — Boydstone Rd, G53
  • Glasgow Dental Hospital and School — 378 Sauchiehall St, G2
  • Hospital Saturday Fund
  • Hospital Broadcasting Service — Baltic Chambers
  • Bridgeton Health Centre — 201 Abercromby Street
  • Pollock Health Centre — 21 Cowglen Road
  • Pollok Health Centre Dental Practice — 21 Cowglen Road
  • Easterhouse Health Centre — 9 Auchinlea Road
  • Gorbals Health Centre — 45 Pine Place
  • Govanhill Health Centre
  • Govanhill Health Centre — 233 Calder Street
  • Maryhill Health Centre — 41 Shawpark Street
  • Springburn Health Centre — Springburn Health Centre
  • Parkhead Health Centre Pharmacy — 101 Salamanca Street
  • Bridgeton Health Centre Pharmacy — 201 Abercromby Street
  • Crookfur Pet Health Centre — Harvie Avenue Shops; Newton Mearns
  • PDSA Pet Aid Hospital — Muiryfauld Drive
  • Kingston Hospital N H S Trust — 44 Nurseries Road; Baillieston
  • Hospital Management and Supplies Glasgow — Unit 115 Carnegie Rd, Hillington G52

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.
  • 0.1% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.

Built from

  • geonet.glasgow — 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