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Oldest companies — Britain's longest survivors still trading

Britain's longest-surviving businesses — still active and trading, ranked by age since incorporation · 63,497 qualifying · snapshot 2026-08-01

# Company Industry AgeTurnoverStaff
01 THE FESTINIOG RAILWAY COMPANY Welsh heritage railway operator Consumer Discretionary 194 yrs £7M 130
02 ASHFORD CATTLE MARKET COMPANY LIMITED(THE) Livestock market and agricultural agent Consumer Discretionary 170 yrs £995k 9
03 N & C BUILDING PRODUCTS LIMITED Building materials manufacturer and distributor Basic Materials 170 yrs £46M 249
04 GRESHAM HOUSE LIMITED Searchlight-backed alternative asset manager Financials 169 yrs £95M 273
05 SOUTHAMPTON ISLE OF WIGHT AND SOUTH OF ENGLAND ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY LIMITED Isle of Wight ferry operator Industrials 165 yrs £60M 551
06 QUANTUM CLOTHING GROUP LIMITED Apparel manufacturer and designer Consumer Discretionary 161 yrs £2M 14
07 LLOYDS BANK PLC Retail and commercial bank Financials 161 yrs £NaN 62,542
08 CRIEFF HYDRO LIMITED Scottish hotel and resort operator Consumer Discretionary 159 yrs £41M 768
09 THE INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC Listed investment trust Financials 158 yrs £153k 0
10 INCORPORATED COUNCIL OF LAW REPORTING FOR ENGLAND AND WALES (THE) Publisher of official law reports Consumer Discretionary 156 yrs £6M 58
11 THE GIRLS' DAY SCHOOL TRUST Independent girls' school network Consumer Discretionary 154 yrs £373M 4,726
12 BARNAGORE JUTE FACTORY PLC(THE) UK-registered jute manufacturing business Consumer Discretionary 154 yrs £15M 1,470
13 BRIGHTON COLLEGE Independent day and boarding school Consumer Discretionary 153 yrs £64M 848
14 MITCHELL'S AUCTION COMPANY LIMITED Cumbrian livestock and antiques auctioneer Industrials 153 yrs £3M 75
15 CHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE Church of England financial executive Consumer Discretionary 153 yrs £11M 46
16 THE SCOTTISH AMERICAN INVESTMENT COMPANY P L C FTSE 250 investment trust Financials 153 yrs £33M 0
17 STADCO LIMITED Automotive body-in-white manufacturer Consumer Discretionary 152 yrs £67M 313
18 BUSINESS WEST (HOLDINGS) Chamber of commerce holding company Consumer Discretionary 152 yrs £12M 153
19 BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Trade union for UK doctors Industrials 152 yrs £157M 1,070
20 WORKING MEN'S COLLEGE CORPORATION London adult education college Consumer Discretionary 152 yrs £8M 219
21 SINGLETON BIRCH LIMITED Chalk quarrying and lime producer Basic Materials 151 yrs £77M 175
22 BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE National business representative body Consumer Discretionary 151 yrs £7M 42
23 THE FELIXSTOWE DOCK AND RAILWAY COMPANY Container port operator Industrials 151 yrs £393M 2,532
24 THE LONDON STEAM-SHIP OWNERS' MUTUAL INSURANCE ASSOCIATION LIMITED Mutual marine insurance provider Financials 150 yrs £118M —
25 PENRITH FARMERS AND KIDDS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY(THE) Cumbrian property and estate agency group Real Estate 150 yrs £3M 39

All figures from each company's latest filed Companies House accounts; detailed filers only, with implausible outliers and scale artifacts excluded. Filed accounts lag the present by roughly 12–24 months, and group-vs-parent scope changes can move a figure between filings. Banks and insurers that don't report a turnover line are under-represented on the turnover-based boards.