Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. (SIC division 28)
Division 28 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 5 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 28
Companies here build machines. That covers pumps, lifting gear, packaging lines, agricultural and food processing machinery, machine tools and every special rig in between. The most common UK code is 28990, other special-purpose machinery. That says a lot about the sector. Much of it builds bespoke or short-run equipment for one industry, not catalogue products. A typical firm designs, fabricates and commissions the whole machine. That is what marks them out from the component makers and subcontract shops in division 25.
Machine builders need mechanical and controls engineers, and those are scarce. Technical recruiters therefore watch this division all year. Any sign of headcount growth or a bigger unit brings them in. Suppliers of drives, bearings, pneumatics and control gear track the same firms. Export advisers do too, because UK special-purpose machinery sells worldwide. A new incorporation often means experienced engineers have left a larger builder with a customer in hand. They need design software, insurance and credit lines at once. Accountants time capital allowance and R&D work around accounts deadlines.
How to read a division 28 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 28 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 28 shares those digits: all 5 codes below begin 28, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 28 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 28 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 28990, manufacture of other special-purpose machinery n.e.c..
Working division 28 as a list
Division 28 holds 5 codes and 6,482 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 28990 accounts for 50 per cent on its own, and the top three take 82 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 2 codes. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 28990 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 28
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 28
28220, Manufacture of lifting and handling equipment28250, Manufacture of non-domestic cooling and ventilation equipment28290, Manufacture of other general-purpose machinery n.e.c.28490, Manufacture of other machine tools28990, Manufacture of other special-purpose machinery n.e.c.Prospecting this division
Division 28 companies, as leads
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Division 28 questions
How do I choose between division 28 and division 25 for an engineering business?
Division 28 is for finished machines and equipment. Division 25 is for fabricated metal products and machined components. A firm building complete packaging lines sits in 28. A firm machining parts for those lines sits in 25. If you do both, list codes from each division. Companies House allows up to four codes and does not mind mixing divisions.
We build one-off machines for different industries. Is 28990 right, or should we pick an industry-specific code?
28990 exists for exactly this case. It is the safest choice when your machines serve varied sectors. The industry codes, such as food processing or agricultural machinery, suit firms tied to one market. You can switch later if that changes. Update SIC codes through the confirmation statement whenever your focus shifts. No evidence and no approval are needed.
Find companies across division 28
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