Scientific research and development (SIC division 72)
Division 72 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 3 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 72
Organisations here sell knowledge. Code 72190 is the broadest entry. It takes in natural sciences and engineering R&D, from materials work to applied physics. Code 72110 sets biotechnology research apart. Code 72200 covers social sciences and humanities. The population is mixed. You get university spinouts, grant-funded ventures that are pre-revenue by design, corporate research subsidiaries, and consultancies that picked an R&D code for genuinely experimental work. Expect a long gap between incorporation and real trading, longer than in most divisions.
Investors, grant consultants and R&D tax relief advisers watch these codes closely. A new 72110 or 72190 company often follows a funding award or a spinout agreement. Lab equipment suppliers, specialist recruiters, patent attorneys and contract research organisations sell here too. Many of these companies burn funding rather than earn revenue. So filing history tells you more about health than growth figures do. A company near its accounts deadline with an abandoned website is often a shelved project, not a live buyer.
How to read a division 72 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 72 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 72 shares those digits: all 3 codes below begin 72, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 72 sits inside section M, professional, scientific and technical activities, 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 72 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 72190, other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering.
Working division 72 as a list
Division 72 holds 3 codes and 23,780 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 72190 accounts for 56 per cent on its own, and the other 2 codes account for the rest. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 72190 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 72
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.
Prospecting this division
Division 72 companies, as leads
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Division 72 questions
Do I need a division 72 SIC code to claim R&D tax relief?
No. HMRC judges R&D relief claims on the nature of the work, not the SIC code at Companies House. A company in any division can qualify. SIC codes are self-selected with no approval process. Advisers do scan division 72 for new clients, so an accurate research code may bring more approaches your way, welcome or not.
What is the difference between 72190 and an engineering code in division 71?
Division 72 is experimental development. The aim is new knowledge, prototypes or techniques. Division 71 is applying established engineering expertise to client projects. A firm doing both can hold codes from each. Companies House allows up to 4 per company, chosen at incorporation or updated on the confirmation statement (CS01). List the code covering most of your activity first.
Find companies across division 72
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