Food and beverage service activities (SIC division 56)
Division 56 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 7 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 56
Division 56 is about serving food and drink to eat now. It is the home of the UK hospitality trade. Takeaways and mobile food stands under 56103 form the biggest single group. Restaurants come next, split by alcohol licence. Licenced venues use 56101, and unlicenced restaurants and cafes use 56102. Pubs and bars register under 56302. Event caterers use 56210. Code 56290 collects other food services, such as contract catering and delivery-only kitchens. The codes track licensing and format, so they say a lot about how each business really runs.
Hospitality churns fast and buys supplies constantly. That makes it one of the most worked sectors on the public record. Food and drink wholesalers, EPOS and card payment providers, delivery platform sales teams, utility brokers, insurance intermediaries and commercial kitchen fitters all mine these codes. Accountants add payroll and tronc support. A new incorporation usually means a site opening within months. That is the window for fit-out, systems and supplier deals. Websites are weak across takeaways and cafes, so the poor-website filter gives web designers and booking platforms an obvious first conversation.
How to read a division 56 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 56 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 56 shares those digits: all 7 codes below begin 56, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 56 sits inside section I, accommodation and food service, 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 56 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 56103, take-away food shops and mobile food stands.
Working division 56 as a list
Division 56 holds 7 codes and 257,900 active companies between them. 56103 is the largest at 29 per cent and the top three take 64 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 4 codes. That is balanced enough that the division is a reasonable unit to work, though the leading code alone will usually give you a cleaner list.
More on working division 56
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 56
56101, Licensed restaurants56102, Unlicenced restaurants and cafes56103, Take-away food shops and mobile food stands56210, Event catering activities56290, Other food services56301, Licenced clubs56302, Public houses and barsProspecting this division
Division 56 companies, as leads
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Division 56 questions
Is my cafe 56101 or 56102?
The split is purely about alcohol. If the venue holds a premises licence and serves alcohol with meals, use 56101, licenced restaurants. Cafes, coffee shops and restaurants with no alcohol licence use 56102. If you get a licence later, change the code on a confirmation statement. Companies House applies no check.
Which code should a food truck or mobile caterer use?
Code 56103 covers mobile food stands as well as takeaway shops. Street food trucks selling to the public usually register there. If you mainly cater pre-booked private and corporate events, 56210, event catering activities, fits better. Many operators do both and hold the two codes together. The four-code limit leaves plenty of room.
Find companies across division 56
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