How is a United Kingdom code confirmed with the ONS and Companies House?

In the United Kingdom, a code is confirmed in two places, on the same pattern as elsewhere in this cluster. The Office for National Statistics, the ONS, holds the UK Standard Industrial Classification, UK SIC 2007, and Companies House holds the company record on which the nature of business codes appear.

The ONS states that UK SIC 2007 is effective from 1 January 2008 (FIXED), that the United Kingdom is required by European legislation to revise the UK SIC in parallel with NACE so that both systems remain identical down to and including the four digit class level, and that a further breakdown is provided for certain classes by a five digit sub class level. The company record is the place to confirm the entry shown for a company. The classification is the place to confirm what a category covers.

What is UK SIC 2007, and how does it relate to NACE?

UK SIC 2007 is the United Kingdom version of the classification of economic activities, revised in parallel with NACE Rev. 2. The ONS states that the revision was carried out in conjunction with the major revision of the European Union classification system, NACE, and that both the UK SIC and NACE are completely consistent with the United Nations ISIC classification. The ONS also states that the United Kingdom was required by European legislation to revise the UK SIC in parallel with NACE so that both systems remain identical to the four digit class level, with a five digit sub class level for certain classes in the United Kingdom. A UK SIC code at four digits therefore matches the NACE class at four digits, on the basis stated by the ONS. A five digit UK SIC code adds United Kingdom detail below the class, in the same way that a national version adds detail below the European class. A reader who compares a UK code with a NACE code should compare at four digits first, and should treat the fifth digit as national detail, not as a European difference.

What does the ONS record about the revision?

The ONS records the revision process under the name Operation 2007, a series of consultations started in 2002 (FIXED, as stated by the ONS), carried out with the national statistical institutes of all EU member states, the European Commission, government departments in the United Kingdom, the Bank of England, the devolved administrations, and business and trade associations. The revision was motivated, in the ONS account, by the need to adapt the classifications to changes in the world economy, and in particular to the growing importance of service activities, due mainly to developments in information and communication technologies. UK SIC 2007 has 21 sections and 88 divisions, as the ONS notes in its comparison with UK SIC 2003, which had 17 sections and 62 divisions. Those counts describe UK SIC 2007, not NACE Rev. 2.1, and they should not be used as counts for the current European version, which has 22 sections, 87 divisions, 287 groups and 651 classes, as adopted.

What is checked in the company record, and what is not claimed here?

The company record held by Companies House shows the nature of business codes for the company, and it is the record to confirm the entry shown for a company. This guide does not state the number of codes a company record shows, the filing route by which a code is changed, or any fee for a filing, because those points were not verified in the ONS and EUR-Lex pages consulted for this guide, and no secondary source is used for them here. A reader who needs the filing route should open the Companies House guidance for the filing in question, and should record the route from that guidance, with the date of the check. A reader who needs the entry should open the company record, record the company identifier, the codes as shown, and the date of the check, and should state that the record is the entry as held, not a finding about the company’s activities.

Item	Holder and record
Classification, UK	ONS, UK SIC 2007, effective from 1 January 2008 (FIXED)
Identity to NACE	Identical to four digit class level, five digit sub class for certain classes, as stated by the ONS
Consistency with ISIC	Completely consistent with ISIC, as stated by the ONS
Company entry	Companies House company record, for the company named
Filing route and fees	No date or fee asserted here, check Companies House guidance as checked on 28 October 2026

The last row records the absence of a verified filing claim, rather than supplying one from a secondary source. A future check that verifies the route in Companies House guidance should replace that row with the verified route.

What does a United Kingdom code not decide?

A UK SIC code, and a code shown on a company record, do not decide tax, licensing, funding, collective agreement or social security questions. The NACE legislation, as summarised by EUR-Lex, only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes. UK SIC 2007 was revised in parallel with NACE, and its limits are the same. A question about an obligation for a specific company belongs to the authority that administers the obligation. The company record is the record of the entry. The obligation, where one exists, is recorded elsewhere, and the code should never be quoted as if it answered it.

Where is a United Kingdom code confirmed?

The meaning of a category is confirmed in the UK SIC 2007 documentation published by the ONS, and in the Eurostat explanatory notes for the corresponding NACE class. The move between versions is confirmed in the correspondence tables. The entry for a specific company is confirmed in the Companies House company record for that company, using the company identifier. Confirm the entry there, record the identifier, the codes as shown, and the check date, and confirm the category meaning with the ONS or Eurostat documentation.