Plymouth, United Kingdom

What Plymouth is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 6,856 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

6,856 businesses on file · 118 trades · 110 sectors · · built from geonet.plymouth on 2026-11-07

Businesses6,856
100% carry coordinates
Specialised in9
trades above the national pattern
Places of worship58
Franchise brands43
already operating here
Known for

Britain's Ocean City, waterfront

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Plymouth → — 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 base379
broad — 87 industry groups, top three 25.3%
Survival the mix implies56.7%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS22.9%
of which 67.1% 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.

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
22.6%
354 businesses
Caution
57.3%
898 businesses
Structure decides
20.2%
316 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 99.7% 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-plymouth 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
Chinese — — 16
trade on Union Street (2)
Thai — — 3
Spanish-speaking — — 2
Polish — — 2
Dutch — — 2
German — — 2
Irish — — 2
Japanese — — 1
South Asian — — 1
Italian — — 1
Arabic-speaking — — 1
Scottish — — 1
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 6,856 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Construction 239 3.5% plumbing (80) · roofing (38) · painting (25) · machinery (25) · electrician (21) · carpet (19) · heating and cooling (11) · flooring (6)
Education 189 2.8% school (159) · library (21) · garden (8) · writing (1)
Living 171 2.5% place of worship (58) · cleaning (38) · furniture (20) · property management (18) · appliances (14) · veterinary (9) · fire safety (7) · apartment (4)
Business 138 2% association (58) · accounting (53) · consulting (12) · foundation (5) · government (4) · vending (3) · auction (2) · cemetary (1)
Dining 124 1.8% restaurant (72) · fast food (24) · pizza (21) · pubs (2) · diner (2) · steakhouse (2) · chinese restaurant (1)
Retail 107 1.6% flowers (27) · photography (23) · jeweler (18) · antiques (11) · pet supply (9) · department store (8) · gifts (3) · convenience (2)
advertising 97 1.4%
Travel 87 1.3% hotel (44) · travel agent (42) · airline (1)
engineer 71 1%
cafes 71 1% fruit (1)
Automotive 71 1% autos (53) · tires (13) · scooter (3) · auto repair (2)
construction 69 1%
Finance 62 0.9% insurance (41) · mortgage (10) · bank (10) · loans (1)
beautysalons 60 0.9%
Sports 57 0.8% boating marine (52) · golf equipment (2) · martial arts (2) · horse (1)
Food 55 0.8% baker (21) · catering (16) · grocer (9) · ice cream (5) · seafood (4)
legal 54 0.8%
electric 50 0.7%
housewares 43 0.6%
Beauty 42 0.6% dentist (34) · hair stylist (8)
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.

27 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
Salvation Army retail 6 —
Pizza Hut pizza 4 10,000
Thomas Cook travel 4 700
Burger King fastfood 2 11,000
House of Fraser retail 2 —
Laura Ashley retail 2 —
Bad Boy retail 1 7
Blockbuster Video video 1 5,900
Cartridge World retail 1 1,400
Cash Converters retail 1 16
Disney Store retail 1 —
Holiday Inn businesshotel 1 —
Royal Bank bank 1 —
St. John retail 1 —
The Body Shop retail 1 —
Vue Cinemas entertainment 1 55
Londis name only supermarket 5 2,100
Manor name only retail 5 —
Safeway name only supermarket 5 1,767
Tesco name only retail 5 1,780
Coach name only luggage 4 —
Somerfield name only supermarket 3 1,132
Debenhams name only retail 2 126
Dillons name only supermarket 2 18
Halfords name only retail 2 420
Hannaford name only supermarket 2 150
HomeBase locations name only retail 2 320
Stitches name only retail 2 —
YMCA name only fitness 2 —
ASDA name only supermarket 1 243
Burton name only retail 1 —
Champion name only supermarket 1 1,000
Europcar name only car 1 2,825
Greyhound name only travel 1 —
Illuminations name only retail 1 16
Kingfisher name only home 1 680
Limited name only retail 1 —
Marriott name only upscalehotel 1 2,800
Michaels name only retail 1 805
Mothercare name only retail 1 —
Pavilions name only supermarket 1 32
Renaissance name only upscalehotel 1 —
Waterstones name only retail 1 193
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.

Owning and letting

5311
4 firms · LQ 2.21

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

Named in the register
  • 5 and 6 Elliot Terrace — 5 Elliot Terrace; The Hoe
  • Haddington House Apartments — 42 Haddington Road
  • No 9 Hill Park Crescent Management Co — 9 Hill Park Crescent; North Hill
  • Punlight — 12 Harwell Court

Managing for owners

5313
18 firms · LQ 2.94

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register
  • 9 and 10 Fellowes Place Management Co — 9 & 10 Fellowes Place; Millbridge
  • Ash Properties — 29 Hillside Avenue
  • Chris Shorey — 6 North Rd East
  • Doorstep Property Services — 250 Dean Cross Rd
  • Falcon Property Lettings — 8 Mannamead Road
  • Gulland Properties — 12 Thorn Park; Mannamead
  • Haddon Peter Property Management Services — 23 Waterloo Street; Off North Hill
  • Haddon Property Management Services — 23 Waterloo St
  • Just Lets — 106 North Hill
  • Laira Properties — 11 The Crescent
  • Omnisure Property Management — Unit 215; Hm Dockyard
  • Plymouth Accommodation Bureau
  • R B Hannaford — Butlas Farm; Plympton
  • Stratton and Holborow — Care of Richard Tuffin & Co; 6-8 Drake Circus

Building new homes

2361
9 firms · LQ 5.21

Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.

Named in the register
  • A E Andrew Developments — 8 Derrys Cross
  • Churchwood Valley Holiday Cabins — Churchwood Est
  • Cosalt Plc — 12a Commercial Street
  • Kingsmead Parks — Glenholt Park; Glenfield Road
  • L W Rawlings — Underhill Villas; Stoke
  • McLeod Bros Contractors — 2 The Esplanade
  • Riverside Caravan Park — Longbridge Road
  • T D B Contractors — 31 Torridge Road; Plympton
  • V Honey and Son — Plympton

Financing it

5222
11 firms · LQ 0.82

Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.

Named in the register
  • Complete Mortgage Services South West — Marina House; Moor View Terrace
  • Cross Keys Mortgage Centre — 51 Devonport Road
  • Mortgage Agency Services Number Two — The Money Centre; PO BOX 138
  • Mortgage Direct — 15 Trafalgar Street
  • Mortgages 4 Plymouth — 8 Peverell Pk Road
  • Nationwide Trust — 66 Ebrington Street
  • Save On Mortgages — 11A Radford Pk Road
  • The Mortgage Shop — 18 Mannamead Road
  • The Mortgage Shop — 18 Mannamead Road
  • Western Mortgage Brokers — N & P House; 8 Derry's Cross
  • Western Mortgage Services — Moneycentre (the); Drake Circus

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
Plymouth 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 159daycare 1
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 clinics3
Pharmacies0
Dental practices34

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • The Budshead Health Centre — 433 Budshead Road
  • PDSA Pet Aid Hospital — 10 Durnford Street
  • Plympton Hospital — MARKET RD
  • St Budeaux Health Centre — Stirling Road
  • Estover Health Centre — Leypark Walk
  • Plympton Health Centre — The Health Centre/Physiotherapy
  • Plympton Health Centre — Mudge Way
  • Freedom Health Centre — 78 Lipson Road
  • Hospital Radio Plymouth — Derriford Hospital
  • Plymouth Hospital School — Derriford Hospital, Derriford Rd
  • Duchy Hospital

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.
  • 0.3% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.

Built from

  • geonet.plymouth — 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