72% Micro
24% Small
2% Mid
1% Large
0% Mega
INSIGHTS - MARCH 2025
UK Social Work Industry
UK Social Work Industry Information
The social work industry provides non-residential, social assistance services to those in need such as the elderly and disabled, child day care centres and other specialist needs.
Active Businesses
26,744
Annual Sales
£23bn +
Employees
491,473
Economic Contribution
£12bn
Tags
Location of Social Work Companies
Social Work Companies by Size
Largest Social Work Companies
Turnover
The Ormiston Trust
£338.9m
Barnardo's
£326.1m
Change, Grow, Live
£307.3m
Social Work Companies by Age
28% Established
28% Young
26% Startup
18% Mature
0% New
Oldest Social Work Companies
Established
Toynbee Hall
1884
Fastest Growing Social Work Companies
35% Declining
22% Healthy
19% Rapid
14% High
11% Low
Fastest Growing Social Work Companies
3yr CAGR
Social Work Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers
Social Work Industry Valuation
EBITDA Multiple
Social Work Industry Valuation
Turnover Multiple
Social Work Industry Valuation
Net Asset Multiple
Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Social work activities without accommodation Industry Insights
There are 26,744 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £23 billion .
The Industry employs around 491,472 people and contributes £12 billion to the economy.
The most popular location for Social Work companies is London with 7,272 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 464.
The largest Social Work company is Save The Children International with a turnover of £1.2bn. 72% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 2% Mid companies.
18% of the Social Work Industry is made up of 18% Mature but the majority are Established businesses (28%) the oldest company is Guild Of St.george(the) founded in 1878.
Social Work industry has a number of high growth companies (14%), the fastest growing company is Human Capability Foundation with a 3 year growth rate of 162%. Other fast growing companies include Barking And Dagenham Giving (116%), Fedcap Employment Limited (104%) and Uk Curriculum And Accreditation Body (Ukcab) (66%).
The UK Social Work Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 14.31x, Turnover multiple of 1.60x and a Net Asset multiple of 3.63x.
