The UK retail landscape at the inception of 2026 represents a sector in profound transition, characterised by a recalibration of physical footprints, the aggressive integration of generative artificial intelligence, and a structural shift toward value-based consumer propositions.
As of January 1, 2026, the UK retail sector comprised 304,560 businesses, contributing £114.7bn in economic output, which represents approximately 4.4% of the total UK gross value added.
While small and medium-sized enterprises constitute over 99% of the business population, the top 50 UK-registered retail organisations serve as the primary engines of employment and turnover, navigating a macroeconomic environment defined by persistent but cooling inflation and a shifting labor market.
The following analysis provides a comprehensive ranking and strategic evaluation of the top 50 retail businesses registered in the United Kingdom.
This ranking is synthesised from fiscal year 2024 and 2025 performance data, prioritising turnover as the primary ranking metric while integrating EBITDA, headcount, and UK-specific location counts to provide a holistic view of operational scale and efficiency.
Comprehensive ranking of the top 50 UK-registered retail businesses
The data presented in the following table reflects a synthesis of audited financial statements and preliminary results for the 2024/25/26 period.
Turnover and profit figures are presented in billions of pounds sterling (£bn) unless otherwise noted. In instances where EBITDA is not publicly disclosed for private entities, Profit Before Tax (PBT) is utilised as the closest comparable metric for earnings potential.
| Rank | Registered Retail Business | FY Turnover (£bn) | EBITDA / PBT (£bn) | UK Headcount | UK Locations |
| 1 | Tesco plc | 61.50 | 2.30 (PBT) | 326,000 | 2,932 |
| 2 | J Sainsbury plc | 32.81 | 1.03 (Op Profit) | 141,000 | 1,430 |
| 3 | Asda Stores Ltd | 21.90 | 1.07 (PBT) | 145,000 | 1,106 |
| 4 | Wm Morrison Supermarkets | 14.90 | 0.83 (PBT) | 104,813 | 542 |
| 5 | Marks & Spencer Group plc | 13.8 | 0.87 (PBT) | 72,000 | 1,064 |
| 6 | Co-operative Group Ltd | 11.30 | 0.16 (PBT) | 56,465 | 2,500 |
| 7 | John Lewis Partnership | 12.80 | 0.097 (PBT) | 74,000 | 365 |
| 8 | JD Sports Fashion plc | 11.45 | 0.92 (PBT) | 79,717 | 456 |
| 9 | Associated British Foods (Primark) | 9.50 | 1.48 (PBT) | 138,000 | 473 |
| 10 | Kingfisher plc (B&Q/Screwfix) | 8.50 | 0.11 (PBT) | 25,100 | 1,233 |
| 11 | Boots UK Ltd | 7.00 | 0.60 (PBT) | 51,000 | 2,177 |
| 12 | Frasers Group plc | 4.93 | 0.56 (PBT) | 32,000 | 500+ |
| 13 | Next plc | 6.30 | 1.01 (PBT) | 32,930 | 700 |
| 14 | B&M European Value Retail | 5.60 | 0.62 (EBITDA) | 32,662 | 1,120 |
| 15 | Iceland Foods Ltd | 4.00 | 0.14 (EBITDA) | 30,000 | 1,000 |
| 16 | The Range (CDS Superstore) | 1.47 | 0.01 (PBT) | 32,000 | 210 |
| 17 | Ocado Retail (Joint Venture) | 3.2 | 0.15 (EBITDA) | 20,000 | 0 |
| 18 | Currys plc | 8.7 | 0.16 (PBT) | 24,000 | 280 |
| 19 | Greggs plc | 2.15 | 0.34 (EBITDA) | 32,000 | 2,675 |
| 20 | Very Group | 2.09 | 0.30 (EBITDA) | 4,500 | 0 |
| 21 | Halfords Group plc | 1.71 | 0.03 (PBT) | 12,901 | 750 |
| 22 | WHSmith plc | 1.50 | 0.10 (PBT) | 14,000 | 1,100 |
| 23 | Dunelm Group plc | 1.77 | 0.21 (PBT) | 11,000 | 180 |
| 24 | Matalan Ltd | 0.98 | 0.51 (EBITDA) | 15,000 | 200 |
| 25 | Pets at Home Group plc | 1.48 | 0.12 (PBT) | 16,000 | 450 |
| 26 | THG plc (The Hut Group) | 0.93 | 0.04 (EBITDA) | 8,000 | 0 |
| 27 | Watches of Switzerland Group | 0.81 | 0.12 (PBT) | 3,000 | 150 |
| 28 | New Look Retailers Ltd | 0.84 | -0.87 (PBT) | 9,768 | 418 |
| 29 | River Island Clothing Co. | 0.82 | 0.75 (PBT) | 8,000 | 300 |
| 30 | Superdrug Stores plc | 0.80 | 0.07 (PBT) | 14,000 | 830 |
| 31 | Wickes Group plc | 0.65 | 0.05 (PBT) | 8,000 | 230 |
| 32 | Homebase Ltd | 0.70 | -0.84 (PBT) | 5,600 | 140 |
| 33 | Selfridges & Co. | 0.60 | 0.04 (PBT) | 5,000 | 4 |
| 34 | Harrods Ltd | 0.58 | 0.05 (PBT) | 4,000 | 1 |
| 35 | Fortnum & Mason plc | 0.55 | 0.03 (PBT) | 1,000 | 5 |
| 36 | Lush Cosmetics Ltd | 0.52 | 0.04 (PBT) | 6,000 | 100 |
| 37 | Holland & Barrett | 0.50 | 0.03 (PBT) | 7,000 | 800 |
| 38 | Waterstones Booksellers Ltd | 0.48 | 0.04 (PBT) | 3,500 | 311 |
| 39 | Majestic Wine Ltd | 0.45 | 0.02 (PBT) | 1,500 | 200 |
| 40 | Harvey Nichols & Co. Ltd | 0.42 | 0.01 (PBT) | 1,200 | 7 |
| 41 | American Golf | 0.40 | 0.03 (PBT) | 1,000 | 90 |
| 42 | Yours Clothing Ltd | 0.38 | 0.02 (PBT) | 1,200 | 150 |
| 43 | Boodles Ltd | 0.35 | 0.04 (PBT) | 400 | 10 |
| 44 | Moss Bros Group Ltd | 0.32 | 0.02 (PBT) | 800 | 120 |
| 45 | Warren James Ltd | 0.30 | 0.03 (PBT) | 500 | 150 |
| 46 | Sosandar plc | 0.28 | 0.01 (PBT) | 150 | 0 |
| 47 | Ann Summers Ltd | 0.25 | 0.01 (PBT) | 1,000 | 80 |
| 48 | Seasalt Ltd | 0.22 | 0.01 (PBT) | 1,100 | 70 |
| 49 | Adanola Ltd | 0.20 | 0.01 (PBT) | 100 | 0 |
| 50 | Castore (J.Carter Sportswear) | 0.18 | 0.01 (PBT) | 200 | 5 |
The grocery sector: market consolidation and logistical warfare
The UK grocery market continues to be the dominant force in the retail economy, with food shops capturing 39p of every pound spent in 2024. The ‘Big Four’ supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons – account for a combined market share exceeding 60%, despite the persistent pressure from German discounters.
Tesco plc: The market benchmark
Tesco remains the undisputed leader of the UK retail landscape. With a market share of 28.7% at the start of 2025, its scale is unmatched, employing 326,000 staff across a network of 2,932 UK locations.
The company’s financial performance, characterised by a turnover of £61.5bn and a pre-tax profit of £2.3bn, is underpinned by its ‘Save to Invest’ programme and the highly effective Clubcard loyalty ecosystem.
The strategic integration of Booker, the wholesale giant acquired in 2018, has continued to pay dividends, with wholesaler like-for-like sales surging by 11.1% in recent periods. By operating as both a retailer and a wholesaler, Tesco establishes a competitive advantage that protects it from companies focused on only one of those areas.
Additionally, the company’s move toward a digital marketplace similar to Amazon, along with its initial entry into the New York stock exchange, suggests its goals extend far beyond the standard supermarket industry.
J Sainsbury plc: The multi-channel challenger
As the UK’s second-largest supermarket, Sainsbury’s has successfully navigated the post-pandemic landscape by focusing on prioritising its food offering. In the 2024/25 financial year, retail sales grew by 3.1%, with underlying operating profits reaching £1,036m. Sainsbury’s competitive advantage lies in its ownership of Argos, which facilitates a rapid-fulfillment general merchandise offering that traditional grocers struggle to replicate.
Sainsbury’s has also emerged as a leader in workforce investment, increasing colleague pay by 58% since 2018 to ensure operational stability amid a tightening labour market. Its investment of over £1bn in price lowering initiatives has been critical in retaining customer volume as discretionary incomes were squeezed.
The 2025 management focus on personalising its shopping experience via the Nectar loyalty programme reflects an industry-wide shift toward leveraging data as a primary competitive asset.
Asda and Morrisons: The debt and turnaround narrative
The trajectories of Asda and Morrisons offer a comparison of how different private equity firms approach corporate restructuring. Asda, primarily owned by TDR Capital and Mohsin Issa, has concentrated on growing its presence in the convenience sector via its Express and On the Move locations.
Even with total sales reaching £21.9bn, the company has seen its market portion drop to 12.6% while struggling to compete with both premium supermarkets and budget retailers.
Meanwhile, Morrisons, under the ownership of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, has prioritised fixing its internal operations. Despite recording core profits of £835m toward the end of 2024, the business has dealt with major obstacles, specifically a late 2024 cyber breach of its logistics software that disrupted stock levels for a long period.
To recover, the retailer has focused on its loyalty program and infrastructure spending, though it still had to cut 200 roles in early 2025 to offset increased tax burdens and fiscal constraints.
Value retail and the discounters’ resurgent path
The rise of thrifty shopping has solidified the position of value retailers in the top tier of the UK ranking. Businesses like B&M, Iceland, and the parent companies of Primark have leveraged their low-cost operational models to capture market share from traditional mid-market players.
B&M European value retail: The discount powerhouse
B&M’s results for 2025 highlight how lucrative the diverse discount retail sector can be. By generating £5.6bn total revenue and £620m in core earnings, the company has successfully established itself across more than 1,100 British sites.
Its business model centers on carrying a restricted range of unique products, a method that speeds up stock rotation and simplifies logistics. The primary UK division accounts for more than 32,000 employees, and with a goal to reach 1,200 locations, the firm clearly believes there is still significant room for brick-and-mortar growth within the budget market.
Iceland Foods: The frozen specialist
Iceland Foods remains a unique entity in the UK top 50, focusing on a specific temperature-controlled niche that has proven resilient during the cost-of-living crisis. With annual sales approaching £4bn and a network of 1,000 stores, Iceland has reclaimed its status as one of the UK’s fastest-growing food retailers.
Its development of The Food Warehouse format has allowed it to compete with warehouse-style retailers while maintaining a high-street presence. Iceland’s recent £80m investment in a new distribution centre in Warrington, set to open in 2025, highlights its commitment to logistical modernisation.
The fashion and apparel landscape: Platforms vs. bricks
The fashion industry is currently experiencing a sharp divide in success between retailers that operate solely online and those that have combined their digital and physical stores into a single, unified system. While the markets for shoes and general clothing remain split among many different players, the top-performing companies are those that have successfully transitioned into platform-based business models.
Next plc: The digital transformation model
Next plc has evolved into a high-margin technology platform that happens to sell clothes. Its 2025 guidance suggests a pre-tax profit of £1.15bn, driven by its strategy of managing the digital infrastructure for third-party brands. This mode has insulated Next from the volatility of fashion trends. Its acquisition of brands like FatFace, Reiss, and Seraphine in 2023 and 2025 further consolidates its position as a dominant department store-style entity in the UK market.
| Financial Metric | Next plc (2025 Proj.) | ABF/Primark (2025) | JD Sports (2025) |
| Turnover (£bn) | 6.30 | 9.50 | 11.45 |
| PBT / EBITDA (£bn) | 1.01 (PBT) | 1.48 (PBT) | 0.92 (PBT) |
| UK Stores | 700 | 473 | 456 |
| Headcount | 32,930 | 138,000 | 79,717 |
Associated British Foods: The Primark phenomenon
Primark, the retail division of ABF, remains a global outlier for its reliance on physical retail. Despite a total absence of a traditional e-commerce sales channel, Primark generated £9.5bn in sales in 2025. Its UK market share grew to 6.8%, supported by an aggressive store rollout and refurbishment programme. The Primark model – high volume, low margin, and massive physical footprint – continues to resonate with consumers, with EBITDA margins maintained through meticulous supply chain control and a refusal to absorb the logistical costs of home delivery.
DIY, home, and electricals: A sector in stasis
The home improvement industry has encountered a lively yet difficult environment throughout 2025. Kingfisher plc, which operates B&Q and Screwfix, continues to be the leading company in this space, even as it has been forced to adjust to a slowing real estate market and changes in how customers choose to spend their money.
Kingfisher plc and the rise of speed
Under CEO Thierry Garnier, Kingfisher has prioritised its ‘Powered by Kingfisher’ strategy, leveraging the combined buying power of its fascias while allowing for local flexibility. It reported a turnover of £12.78bn and a profit before tax of £528m. Screwfix, in particular, has been a growth engine, with its small-format stores enabling rapid trade-focused delivery and collection.
Currys plc: The service and repair pivot
Currys has addressed the trend of electronics becoming basic commodities by expanding its maintenance and restoration services. The company saw its total sales rise to £8.7bn, while operating earnings grew by 8% to reach £153m. By emphasizing more profitable service offerings, Currys also boosted its adjusted pre-tax profits to £162 million.
Shifting its identity from a basic equipment seller to a technical service provider is a vital transition as the business faces increasing pressure from international digital competitors such as Amazon and Samsung.
Operational dynamics: workforce, wages, and automation
The UK retail sector is one of the nation’s largest employers, and the 2025 fiscal period has been defined by the tension between rising labor costs and the drive for technological efficiency.
The National Living Wage and employee retention
The implementation of the increased National Living Wage has placed significant pressure on the EBITDA of top 50 retailers. In response, businesses like Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have implemented pay increases that exceed statutory requirements to ensure staff retention and service quality. However, this has led to a strategic reduction in non-customer-facing roles.
The total number of jobs in the retail sector stood at 2.6 million in 2024, but many large firms have begun to put right their workforces through the introduction of self-checkout technology and automated inventory management.
Automation as a margin defender
Ocado Group’s performance illustrates the extreme end of this automation trend. Its Luton fulfillment center utilises 550-series robots to pick orders at a rate of 286 units per hour (UPH), an 11.9% increase in efficiency over the previous year. This level of automation allows Ocado Retail to operate with an EBITDA that is increasingly decoupled from manual labor costs.
In a similar fashion, businesses such as Greggs have achieved core earnings for established locations between £220k and £300k. They have reached these figures by maximising the volume of customers served through their popular take-away dining format, which thrives in busy areas.
Regional analysis: The London hub vs. regional growth
While London remains the epicenter of UK retail turnover – with an average company turnover per business almost double the national average at £1.7m – 2025 has seen a notable catch-up in other regions.
Regional growth clusters
Turnover growth was strongest in Wales and the North East in 2025, indicating a decentralisation of retail demand. The list of the 50 most rapidly expanding companies in the North East has spotlighted medium-sized retail firms that are more than doubling their year-on-year sales. These high growth rates are frequently fueled by specialised markets, particularly in areas like sustainable energy solutions and professional technology consulting
| UK Region | Avg. Turnover per Business | Avg. Turnover per Employee |
| London | £1,698,578 | £295,849 |
| South East | £985,086 | £221,935 |
| North West | £915,336 | £173,190 |
| United Kingdom (Avg) | £970,897 | £196,411 |
Note: Data reflects regional averages across the private sector, with retail being the primary driver in high-turnover areas.
Strategic trends for 2025 and 2026: The six pillars of Retail
According to industry analysts, the 2025-2026 period will be defined by six core trends that will determine the survival of top 50 entities.
1. Cultural speed and agile product development
Retailers must find a way to keep up with culture, leveraging data to respond to viral trends on platforms like TikTok, which is projected to generate $33.1bn (£24.3bn) in advertising revenue in 2025. The viral success of Jet2holidays’ advertising on TikTok serves as a benchmark for how UK brands can leverage social buzz to recover revenue.
2. Personalisation at scale
The transition from broad marketing to curated recommendations is being enabled by generative AI. Leading retailers are now using AI to predict customer behavior, with 98% of surveyed firms planning significant investments in this area.
3. Alternative revenue streams: The rise of retail media
The monetisation of customer data through internal advertising platforms is becoming a critical margin enhancer. Amazon’s dominance in this field has prompted UK grocers like Tesco and Sainsbury’s to aggressively expand their retail media divisions, offering third-party brands access to their vast loyalty datasets.
4. Supply chain resilience and near-shoring
To tackle trade risks head-on, retailers are diversifying their supply chains and investing in near-shoring to mitigate the impact of geopolitical instability. This is particularly evident in the fashion sector, where Next and others have sought to reduce lead times to maintain competitiveness against ultra-fast fashion entities like Shein and Temu.
5. Cybersecurity and loss prevention
As the Morrisons Blue Yonder incident demonstrated, cybersecurity is now a critical operational risk. Simultaneously, retailers are investing in advanced loss prevention technologies to combat rising theft rates, which have become a significant drag on EBITDA for high-street operators.
6. Breakthrough efficiency and working capital optimisation
Optimisation of stock levels through real-time visibility is freeing up cash flow. Ocado’s capacity utilisation of its fulfillment centers peaked at 94% in early 2025, illustrating the power of data-driven inventory management.
The competitive perimeter: non-UK registered dominance
Although this report focuses on companies registered in the UK, their success is inextricably linked to the international giants that lead the local market. Amazon’s global revenue of £451.4bn demonstrates its massive scale; interestingly, its UK operations maintain a lean physical presence with only 19 locations despite employing 75,000 people.
Meanwhile, German discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to grow steadily. By the beginning of 2025, Aldi’s UK market share reached 10.8%, while Lidl’s rose to 8.2%.
On the 2025 global stage, Walmart remains the world’s top retailer, with Amazon holding the second position. Tesco stands as the most prominent UK-based business in these rankings, typically placing around 20th, followed by other major British names like Kingfisher and Primark.
Detailed analysis of specialist retailers and high-growth entities
Beyond the multi-billion-pound grocers and fashion platforms, several specialist retailers have demonstrated unique performance profiles in the 2024-2025 period.
Travel retail: The WHSmith transformation
WHSmith has successfully pivoted from a struggling high-street bookseller to an all-purpose retailer for travel essentials. By targeting airport and railway station locations, particularly in the US and UK, WHSmith has transformed its fortunes. In early 2025, it completed the sale of its high-street division to focus entirely on travel hubs where it can command higher margins. Its travel trading profit jumped 12% year-on-year, even as its traditional shops were divested.
Luxury and specialised goods: Watches of Switzerland and Boodles
Consumers have shown that their demand for luxury goods has outpaced supply, which has in turn protected the luxury sector’s margins. Watches of Switzerland reported a 37% jump in revenue to £1.24bn, with UK pre-tax profit doubling to £126m. This is indicative of a broader trend where high earning consumer segments remain unaffected by the cost-of-living pressures that have impacted the discounters’ audience.
Health and beauty: The Boots and Superdrug stalemate
The health and beauty industry is presently a site of intense competition for customer dominance. With annual sales of £7bn and an extensive system of 2,177 branches, Boots UK continues to hold the top spot. However, the company is under heavy pressure from Superdrug and the rapid growth of Sephora across the country.
The presence of Sephora’s shops, which focus on immersive customer experiences, has pushed established retailers to put more money back into their brick-and-mortar stores and their online advisory tools.
Conclusions and future outlook
The ranking of the top 50 UK-registered retail businesses reveals a sector that is more resilient than macroeconomic headlines might suggest. The aggregate turnover of these entities remains a cornerstone of the UK economy, with the top 10 alone accounting for over £180bn in annual sales.
However, the path to profitability in 2026 will not be found in simple volume growth, but in the extraction of operational efficiency through automation and the diversification of revenue via retail media and service-led platforms.
The evolution of the retail workforce is becoming a central theme for the industry. As the sector shifts toward a strategy of employing a smaller number of more specialised, better-compensated workers, overall employee numbers may level off, even as company revenues continue to climb. For market leaders such as Tesco, Next, and Associated British Foods (ABF), the 2025–2026 period is characterised by strengthening their positions.
These giants are using their significant resources to invest in artificial intelligence and logistics – capabilities that have become the essential requirements for competing in the modern British retail market.
