207 companies registered in Lewisham in September, up from 191 in August, including a kitchen firm at Cafe Crofton Park's address and a Polish milk bar on Kirkdale.
207 new companies were registered at Lewisham addresses in September, according to Companies House. That is up from 191 in August on the same search.
They include a new company at the address of Cafe Crofton Park, a Polish milk bar company on Kirkdale and new firms behind takeaways in New Cross, Sydenham and Catford.
We counted every company incorporated between 1 and 30 September with a registered office in the borough’s seven core postcode districts. These are Brockley and Crofton Park (SE4), Catford (SE6), Deptford (SE8), Lewisham and Hither Green (SE13), New Cross (SE14), Forest Hill and Honor Oak (SE23) and Sydenham (SE26). Blackheath’s SE3 and Lee’s SE12 are shared with neighbouring boroughs and are not included.
Deptford’s figure needs a health warning
Deptford topped the month with 61 new companies, well ahead of Lewisham and Hither Green on 38 and Catford on 36. But 22 of Deptford’s 61 give one of two addresses on Wharf Street, SE8:
- 15 give Office Suite 29a, 23 Wharf Street
- 7 give flats in Drew House, 21 Wharf Street
Almost all of the 22 are registered for online retail or wholesale trade. Several carry the names of large international companies, such as Unilever Ireland Limited, McAfee Ireland Limited and Cobra Electronics Europe Limited. The register shows only a name, a flat as the registered office and an online retail code. It does not show any link to the groups whose names they share, and none of these are local shops.
Take Wharf Street out and the borough recorded 185 new companies in September, against 177 in August. The same address explains last year’s high figure: the September 2025 search returns 364 companies, 92 of them on Wharf Street.
The food businesses
Seven of the month’s companies are food businesses at shop addresses. We checked each against the food hygiene register:
| Company | Registered | Address | On the hygiene register at that address |
|---|---|---|---|
| F&O Kitchen Ltd | 14 Sept | 397 Brockley Road, Crofton Park | Cafe Crofton Park, rated 5 on 1 October 2026 |
| Verdant Fast Food Ltd | 7 Sept | 358 Verdant Lane, Catford | Chicken Star, rated 5 on 2 June 2026 |
| 161 Bar Mleczny Ltd | 18 Sept | 161 Kirkdale, Sydenham | 161 Food & Drink Connects Ltd, rated 3 in December 2024 |
| Square Pizza SE14 Ltd | 23 Sept | 391 New Cross Road | Square Pizza, rated 3 on 11 March 2026 |
| Sydenham Kebabish Ltd | 30 Sept | 107 Sydenham Road | Mr Kebabish, rated 3 in August 2025 |
| Top Fresh Fish Ltd | 15 Sept | 61 Deptford High Street | No entry found |
| Top Family Shawarma Ltd | 30 Sept | 53 Deptford High Street | No entry found |
Most of these are existing businesses moving into a new limited company, not new shopfronts. Square Pizza and Mr Kebabish were already trading and rated at those addresses before September.
Two stand out. A “bar mleczny” is a Polish milk bar, a traditional cheap canteen. The new company is registered as a licensed restaurant at 161 Kirkdale, where the hygiene register still lists a different business. The two Deptford High Street companies have no rating at their addresses yet. A new food business has to register with the council before it opens, and is usually inspected within its first few months.
The rest of the month
The 207 cover the usual spread. By industry code:
- 29 list online retail among their activities, 16 of them on Wharf Street
- 15 are building and specialist trade firms, from roofers to electricians
- 13 are IT and software companies
- 9 are hair, beauty and nail businesses
Two are residents’ freehold companies, set up by the owners of flats to buy or manage their building: 292 and 294 Lewisham Road Freehold Limited and 64 Crystal Palace Park Road Limited.
A registered office is not always where a business trades. Four nail and beauty companies registered in September give 133 Creek Road in Deptford, including Gillingham Nails and Spa Ltd and House of Nails Colchester Ltd. Their names point to salons elsewhere in the south east.
What it means for you
- A company registration records an intention, not a trading business. Some of September’s 207 will never trade.
- The registered office is where the paperwork goes. It can be an accountant, a mail address or a flat, as Wharf Street and Creek Road show.
- Before you order from a new food business, check its rating on the food hygiene register. Our August ratings roundup covers the borough’s latest inspections, and this report explains what it means when a business has no rating yet.
- Every company above links to its public Companies House record, where you can see its officers, filings and status free.
- August’s roundup is here. The count for a month moves a little after publication as companies change their registered office or are struck off: the August search returned 200 on 1 September and 191 today.
Sources
- Companies House advanced search, incorporations 1 to 30 September 2026, 1 to 31 August 2026 and 1 to 30 September 2025, registered office address containing SE4, SE6, SE8, SE13, SE14, SE23 or SE26, each result’s postcode checked against the district (searched 6 October 2026; individual company records linked above)
- Food Standards Agency, food hygiene ratings (entries linked in the table, checked 6 October 2026)
The building, IT and beauty groups use each company’s first listed SIC code; the online retail figure counts any company listing SIC 47910. New incorporations can take a few days to appear on the register, so late-September figures may still rise slightly.
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