Data · Companies House
Cash position of UK professional, scientific and technical services companies in 2026
Draft, not published
The median UK professional, scientific and technical services company holds cash equal to 85% of the creditors it must pay within one year. The UK-wide median is 48%. Based on 293 companies in this sector with the figure tagged, from Companies House filings in June and July 2026.
Every figure we can publish for this sector
Each row shows what this sector reported, the same measure across the whole sample, and how many companies in the sector carried that figure. The counts differ by row because companies tag different fields, and the median ratio row uses its own smaller count: it needs both figures tagged and creditors above zero.
| Measure | Professional, scientific and technical services | UK-wide | Companies in this figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| With negative net cash (cash plus debtors, less creditors due within one year, below zero) | 19.1% | 37.2% | 225 |
| In net current liabilities (net current assets below zero) | 25.3% | 37.3% | 887 |
| Holding less cash than the creditors due within one year | 53.3% | 63.8% | 300 |
| Median cash as a share of creditors due within one year | 85% | 48% | 293 |
| With £1,000 or less in the bank at the balance sheet date | 18.9% | 20.6% | 435 |
| Median cash at the balance sheet date | £14,681 | £12,327 | 435 |
Reading these numbers
Professional services sits below the UK figures on the measures of pressure and above them on the measures of cover. 25.3% are in net current liabilities against 37.3%, 19.1% have negative net cash against 37.2%, and the median company holds cash equal to 85% of the creditors due within a year where the UK median is 48%. Median cash of £14,681 is above the UK median of £12,327. Read the rest of the table before taking comfort from that. 53.3% of the sector still held less cash than the creditors due within twelve months, and 18.9% had £1,000 or less in the bank, against 20.6% UK-wide. A sector median is not a statement about any single company inside it.
Where these numbers come from. The Companies House monthly accounts bulk product, which is free and public, for accounts filed in June and July 2026. Dataset 2026-08: 10,000 filings randomly sampled (seed-reproducible), 6,863 with usable iXBRL facts; SIC joined from BasicCompanyDataAsOneFile-2026-08-01. Balance sheet facts were read from the filings themselves; each figure carries its own count of companies, because companies do not all tag the same fields.
Small companies file balance-sheet-only accounts with no profit and loss, so nothing on this page describes cover over time. Every claim here is cash against what is owed. Full method, definitions and caveats. This sector page draws on 943 sampled companies.
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