Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies (SIC division 99)
Division 99 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 2 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 99
The official title covers extraterritorial bodies, such as international organisations. On the UK register this division is almost entirely 99999, the code recorded for a dormant company. A company showing 99999 is declaring that it is not trading. Typical examples are name-protection vehicles, companies held ready for a future venture, and old businesses wound down but not yet dissolved. The code tells you nothing about the industry a company might one day work in. It only tells you nothing is happening now.
Dormant companies usually get stripped out of a list, and for most work that is right. The code still has selective value. Accountants and filing services sell dormant accounts and confirmation statement support, because even a non-trading company faces Companies House deadlines every year. Formation agents and registered office providers renew against this population annually. The best signal is a change. When a company drops 99999 on its confirmation statement, it is announcing that trading has begun. That is one of the cleanest new-business triggers in the data.
How to read a division 99 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 99 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 99 shares those digits: all 2 codes below begin 99, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 99 sits inside section U, activities of extraterritorial organisations, 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 99 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 99999, dormant company.
Working division 99 as a list
Division 99 holds 2 codes and 105,157 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 99999 accounts for 99 per cent on its own, and the other 1 code accounts for the rest. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 99999 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 99
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 99
Prospecting this division
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Division 99 questions
What does SIC code 99999 mean at Companies House?
Code 99999 marks a dormant company. It is not trading and has no significant accounting transactions. The status is self-declared through the SIC field. It is not a licence or a ruling, and Companies House does not verify it. Dormant companies still owe annual filings: a confirmation statement and dormant accounts. The code is separate from 74990, which marks a non-trading entity of a different kind.
How do I change my company's code from 99999 when it starts trading?
File a confirmation statement (CS01). Replace 99999 with up to 4 SIC codes describing the new activity. There is no approval process, and the change hits the public register once the statement is accepted. Remember the accounting side too. Once you start trading, the company can no longer file dormant accounts. Speak to an accountant about the first full set.
Find companies across division 99
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