Printing and reproduction of recorded media (SIC division 18)
Division 18 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 6 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 18
Most of this division is commercial print. UK companies pile into 18129, printing not elsewhere classified. It covers general print shops, digital printers, large-format and signage printers, label producers and finishing houses. Newspaper printing and pre-press work have their own codes, with far fewer companies. The typical firm here is a small independent serving local businesses. The code also holds larger trade printers that supply resellers. A growing set of online print firms sit here too, and they never meet a customer.
Printers buy a distinctive mix. They need paper and consumables, equipment leasing and workflow software. More and more, they need marketing for themselves, because local search has replaced walk-in trade. That draws in agencies and web designers, and the poor-website filter still finds plenty of targets in this very visual industry. Equipment finance houses watch for growth, since a printer adding staff usually needs new kit. A recent incorporation often means a management buyout, or an experienced printer going solo. Suppliers who arrive then keep the account for years.
How to read a division 18 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 18 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 18 shares those digits: all 6 codes below begin 18, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 18 sits inside section C, manufacturing, which is the broadest tier of the classification. So a code is read left to right, from an industry down to a specific activity.
More on how division 18 codes are built
Companies choose their own codes at incorporation and can change them on any confirmation statement, and Companies House does not check the answer. A company may list up to four. That is worth knowing before you treat any division total as a headcount: the numbers here are what companies said about themselves, on the August 2026 register, and the largest single code in this division is 18129, printing n.e.c..
Working division 18 as a list
Division 18 holds 6 codes and 13,232 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 18129 accounts for 66 per cent on its own, and the top three take 85 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 3 codes. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 18129 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 18
A caveat that matters more in some divisions than others: a company may register up to four SIC codes, and the figures below count every position, not just the first. A business filed under two codes in this division appears under both. Treat the totals as reach rather than a headcount, and if you need a clean list, filter to companies whose FIRST code sits in the division. Every company you pull carries the Companies House record, the director's name, a verified website and a verified email, and the ones we cannot complete are not charged.
Every SIC code in division 18
Prospecting this division
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Division 18 questions
My business does design as well as printing. Which SIC codes should I use?
List both. A division 18 code such as 18129 covers the print side. Code 74100, specialised design activities, covers the studio work. A company can register up to four codes from any divisions. There is no need to squeeze a mixed business under one label. Listing your main revenue code first is a useful habit, but not a rule.
Is there a separate SIC code for signage and large-format printing?
No such code exists. That is why sign makers and large-format specialists sit in 18129 with general printers. Some signage firms that fabricate and install pick a manufacturing or construction installation code instead. All of these are fine. You declare your own SIC codes, Companies House does not check them, and you can revise them on a confirmation statement whenever the description stops fitting.
Find companies across division 18
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