TXT In plain English
Company description
COSTCO WHOLESALE UK LIMITED is a UK company whose Companies House status is “Active” and whose registered company type is “Private Limited Company”. Incorporated on 6 August 1991; registered for 35 years; registered office reported in WATFORD, HERTFORDSHIRE. Its primary declared activity is 46900 · Non-specialised wholesale trade.
This BritDB profile also contains linked public records: 1 PSC record, 1 trade mark. This description is assembled from public data, is not a reliability assessment, and should be checked against the cited sources before a legally significant decision.
Web facts are never added from a name match alone. Internet enrichment requires the exact Companies House ID in Wikidata, and ambiguous results are excluded.
01 Company overview
Identity and registration
- Official name
- COSTCO WHOLESALE UK LIMITED
- Company number
- 02635489
- Company type
- Private Limited Company
- Status
- Active
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Dissolution date
- Not supplied
- Accounts category
- GROUP
- Mortgage charges
- 1 total · 1 outstanding · 0 satisfied
- Limited partnership members
- 0 general · 0 limited
A registered office is not necessarily a trading location. The address is reproduced from the Companies House bulk record and should be interpreted in that legal context.
02 Filing dates
Accounts and statements
Last accounts made up to
31 August 2025Next accounts due
31 May 2027Last statement made up to
4 March 2026Next statement due
18 March 2027BritDB does not infer overdue status when the source does not state it.
03 Workforce reporting
Gender pay gap
- Median bonus gap
- 11.4%
- Mean bonus gap
- 41.5%
- Women receiving bonus
- 65.7%
- Men receiving bonus
- 65.9%
- Women in top quartile
- 42.9%
- Women in upper middle quartile
- 48.3%
- Women in lower middle quartile
- 43.2%
- Women in lower quartile
- 42.2%
Earlier reporting years (8)
- 5000 to 19,9991.9% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9992.8% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9991.2% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9990.5% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9992.7% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9991.9% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9994.7% median hourly gap
- 5000 to 19,9991.4% median hourly gap
Positive gaps mean men were paid more; negative gaps mean women were paid more. These figures are employer-reported and describe the workforce distribution, not equal pay for the same job. The company link uses the exact Companies House number supplied by the service.
04 Supplier payments
Payment practices and performance
- Reporting period
- 1 September 2025 – 15 February 2026
- Filed
- 1 June 2026
- Shortest standard term
- 30 days
- Longest standard term
- 60 days
- E-invoicing offered
- Yes
- Supply-chain finance
- Not offered
- Payment codes
- The Prompt Payment Code
- Construction retentions
- No qualifying construction contracts
Complete reported payment fields
- Policy regime
- Regime-3
- Financial period started
- 1 September 2025
- Qualifying contracts
- Yes
- Payments made
- Yes
- Invoice value paid within 30 days
- £832,275,298
- Invoice value paid in 31–60 days
- £1,680,908,841
- Invoice value paid after 60 days
- £148,916,328
- Invoice value paid outside agreed terms
- £247,513,192
- Invoices paid in 31–60 days
- 55.0%
- Invoices unpaid due to dispute
- 0.0%
- Maximum contractual payment period
- 120 days
- Supplier-list charging policy
- No
- Supplier-list charges made
- No
Maximum contractual payment information
Costco has a Code of Ethics that underlies everything that we do. One of the elements of the Code of Ethics is to respect our suppliers. Our suppliers are our partners in business and for us to prosper as a company they must prosper with us. Costco respects its suppliers and our intention is to adhere to agreed payment terms. We do not change payment terms without agreement from our suppliers. Costco Wholesale UK Ltd is a signatory of the Prompt Payment Code and commits to paying at least 95% of invoices within 60 days.
Costco partners with a company called C2FO to give suppliers the opportunity to improve their short term cash flow. Suppliers use an electronic platform provided by C2FO to offer a discount to Costco in return for payment of invoices earlier than the agreed terms. The supplier controls which, if any, invoices to offer a discount on and how much of a discount they are willing to offer to Costco in return for payment before the due date. No third party finance providers are involved and Costco settles discounted invoices direct with suppliers. This process does not change any agreed default payment terms between Costco and its suppliers.
In return for providing the electronic platform C2FO receives a proportion of each discount offered to Costco as a fee from Costco. There is no fee to suppliers beyond the discount that they are willing to offer to Costco for early payment of invoices.
Reported terms and dispute process
- Standard payment terms
Costco Wholesale UK Limited negotiates payment terms individually with suppliers. Terms can be either a set number of days from receipt of goods or date of invoice, or end of month plus a set number of days after receipt of goods or date of invoice. Typical payment terms are net 30 days or end of month plus 30 days.
The business does not pay for merchandise before receipt of goods. Services are not normally paid for until the work has been performed, although where a service is to be provided over a period of time staged payments may be made.
Where payments are due on a weekend or a public holiday funds are sent to arrive in a supplier’s bank account on the next working day. Any payments due on a weekend or a public holiday that were settled on the next working day have been treated as on time payments for the purposes of this report.
If a supplier owes Costco Wholesale UK Limited more than Costco Wholesale UK Limited owes to that supplier then we offset the two amounts and do not settle outstanding invoices. This is part of our vendor agreement and is normal business practice to protect the amounts that we are owed. Where we fully offset a supplier’s invoice against an amount owed to Costco Wholesale UK Limited by that supplier we treat the invoice as being settled. - Dispute resolution process
Costco Wholesale UK Ltd pays for the actual goods received at the price agreed on the purchase order. If there is a discrepancy in the quantity received or the price stated on a supplier’s invoice then Costco will only dispute the difference and not the entire invoiced amount. In this situation Costco will pay for the goods received and the supplier can either raise a credit note or submit a claim for the difference.
Payment processing is dealt with by the Expense Accounts Payable and Merchandise Accounts Payable teams. Any supplier payment queries that may arise are dealt with by the appropriate Accounts Payable team. In the event that the Accounts Payable team are unable to resolve the matter then any queries should be discussed between the supplier and the area of the business that ordered the services or goods in question.
Earlier payment reports (11 shown)
- 35.0 average days to pay4.0% outside terms
- 33.0 average days to pay6.0% outside terms
- 34.0 average days to pay4.0% outside terms
- 32.0 average days to pay4.0% outside terms
- 35.0 average days to pay3.0% outside terms
- 35.0 average days to pay4.0% outside terms
- 34.0 average days to pay5.0% outside terms
- 34.0 average days to pay3.0% outside terms
- 34.0 average days to pay3.0% outside terms
- 34.0 average days to pay5.0% outside terms
- 32.0 average days to pay4.0% outside terms
This is a company-submitted statutory disclosure, not a credit rating. BritDB preserves the reporting period and links the report only through the Companies House number supplied by the official service. Percentages describe payments made during that period and may change in later reports.
05 Global legal identity
Legal Entity Identifier
COSTCO WHOLESALE UK LIMITED
LEI 549300COUEO4918TUX91 · jurisdiction GB
- Legal form
- H0PO
- Entity category
- GENERAL
- Entity created
- 5 August 1991
- Initial LEI registration
- 15 December 2016
- LEI last updated
- 6 October 2025
- Next renewal
- 12 October 2026
- Managing LOU
- 529900F6BNUR3RJ2WH29
- Legal address
- 213 HARTSPRING LANE, UK HOME OFFICE, WATFORD, GB-HRT, WD25 8JS, GB
- Headquarters address
- 213 HARTSPRING LANE, UK HOME OFFICE, WATFORD, GB-HRT, WD25 8JS, GB
GLEIF Level 2 relationships
IS ULTIMATELY CONSOLIDATED BY
From LEI 549300COUEO4918TUX91 to LEI 29DX7H14B9S6O3FD6V18
- Initial registration
- 29 November 2023
- Last updated
- 6 October 2025
- Next renewal
- 12 October 2026
- Validation sources
- FULLY_CORROBORATED
- Validation documents
- SUPPORTING_DOCUMENTS
- Relationship periods
- Start: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+01:00; End: 2020-12-31T00:00:00+01:00; Type: ACCOUNTING_PERIOD; Start: 2018-12-31T00:00:00+01:00; Type: RELATIONSHIP_PERIOD
- Validation reference
- Not supplied
GLEIF parent-reporting exceptions
DIRECT ACCOUNTING CONSOLIDATION PARENT
NO_LEI
LEI data provides global legal identity and source-reported relationships, not a credit or regulatory approval. BritDB links Level 1 identities only through GLEIF’s Companies House registration-authority identifier and exact company number; Level 2 parent and fund relationships and reporting exceptions are reproduced as supplied by GLEIF.
06 Supply-chain transparency
Modern slavery statement
- Organisation
- COSTCO WHOLESALE UK LIMITED
- Group submission
- Yes
- Statement period
- 1 September 2021 – 31 August 2022
- Approved
- 1 December 2022
- Sectors
- Other
Organisation structure
Covered in the statement
Policies
Covered in the statement
Risk assessment
Covered in the statement
Due diligence
Covered in the statement
Training
Covered in the statement
Goals and KPIs
Covered in the statement
Full statement information supplied to the registry
- Reported turnover band
- Over £500 million
- Years producing statements
- 1 to 5 years
- ILO indicators included
- Not answered
- Registry record updated
- 27 April 2023
Policies described
Freedom of workers to terminate employment Freedom of movement Freedom of association Prohibits any threat of violence, harassment and intimidation Prohibits the use of worker-paid recruitment fees Prohibits compulsory overtime Prohibits child labour Prohibits discrimination Prohibits confiscation of workers' original identification documents
Training described
Procurement staff Your suppliers
Worker engagement and working conditions
Your suppliers Professional auditors Workers within your supply chain Businesses in your industry or sector
Social audits
Third party audit arranged by your organisation Third party audit arranged by your supplier Announced audit Unannounced audit
Grievance mechanisms
Using anonymous whistleblowing services, such as a helpline or mobile phone app
Demonstrated progress
We use certain key performance indicators.
Reported risks and mitigations
- Risk: In response to human rights abuses associated with mining, Costco completed its annual Conflict Minerals compliance program focused on 3TG, cobalt, and global Conflict Affected and High-Risk Areas.
- Area: Within your supply chains
- Tier: Tier 3 suppliers and below
- Group: Women Children
- Location: Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Mitigation: Costco carries out an annual compliance program aligned with relevant OECD Due Diligence Guidelines. Our 2021 Conflict Minerals report can be found here: https://mobilecontent.costco.com/live/resource/img/static-us-landing-pages/Costco-CMR-RY-2021_PW-Final.pdf
- Risk: Costco is an active member of the Seafood Task Force (STF) addressing human rights and environmental issues in the Thai shrimp and canned tuna supply chains.
- Tier: Tier 1 suppliers Tier 2 suppliers Tier 3 suppliers and below
- Group: Migrants
- Location: Cambodia Myanmar (Burma) Thailand Taiwan
- Mitigation: Costco is a founding and active member of the Seafood Task Force (STF), which is an organization working to drive accountability, eliminate forced labor, increase transparency and build confidence in seafood supply chains. With specific regard to forced labor, we actively support the Responsible Recruitment Oversight working subgroup of the STF to advance the industry’s efforts for responsible labor recruitment.
- Risk: In the fresh produce industry, Costco continues to partner with the EFI, Fair Trade USA, CIERTO and others to address workplace conditions, worker empowerment, and responsible labor recruitment.
- Tier: Tier 1 suppliers Tier 2 suppliers
- Group: Women Migrants
- Location: Mexico
- Mitigation: Costco continues to partner with the EFI, Fair Trade USA, CIERTO and others to address workplace conditions, worker empowerment, and responsible labor recruitment.
A registry entry records what the organisation declared in its statement. It is not an independent audit. Group statements can cover several companies; BritDB preserves each exact source-supplied company-number link and excludes approver names and email addresses.
07 Data protection
ICO fee-payer registration
Costco Wholesale UK Limited
Registration Z7545271
- Registered from
- 3 March 2003
- Current end date
- 2 March 2027
- Trading names
- COSTCO WHOLESALE
This is a candidate association, not an official Companies House link. The ICO file supplies no company number. The organisation name and postcode uniquely matched this company in the current snapshot. BritDB excludes all DPO contact fields and does not publish unmatched personal entries.
TM UK trade marks
Exact owner-name matches
This is an exact normalised company-name match, not a registrar-confirmed ownership link. Another legal entity can have the same or a very similar name. UKIPO data is a historical 2018 snapshot; verify the owner and current status before relying on it.
08 Ownership and control
People with significant control
Costco Uk Holdings Limited
- Owns 75% or more of shares
- Controls 75% or more of voting rights
- Can appoint or remove directors
- Country registered
- England
- Legal authority
- England & Wales
- Legal form
- Limited Liability
- Place registered
- England
- Registration number
- 3934833
- Notified
- 6 April 2016
PSC records are company-filed public-register information. When the exact same displayed individual name occurs at multiple companies, BritDB offers a non-indexed cross-reference page. It is a name match only, not proof that the records describe the same person. Service addresses and partial dates of birth are deliberately omitted.
09 Charity register
Charity Commission links
No exact company-number link in this snapshot
The Charity Commission extract did not explicitly associate this Companies House number with a charity. BritDB does not use a name-only match to fill the gap.
This company-level check covers the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Links are accepted only when the official extract supplies this exact company registration number. Scottish charities now have separate OSCR profiles, but OSCR’s bulk fields do not provide a Companies House number, so BritDB does not infer a company link.
10 Northern Ireland charity register
CCNI exact company links
No unambiguous company-number link found
The CCNI source number did not resolve uniquely to this Companies House record. BritDB did not use a name or address match.
CCNI publishes company numbers without a jurisdiction prefix. BritDB links only when the plausible padded UK and NI candidates resolve to exactly one Companies House company.
11 Sanctions screening
UK Sanctions List
No exact business-registration-number link found
The imported UK Sanctions List did not supply this Companies House number as a UK-linked business identifier. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
No exact link is not sanctions clearance. UK restrictions can apply through ownership or control even where an entity is not separately named. Always use the current official list and obtain appropriate advice for a legally significant decision.
12 Public procurement
Find a Tender links
No exact GB-COH link in this snapshot
Find a Tender did not explicitly identify this Companies House number in a procurement party. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
These links use only the GB-COH identifier supplied in the procurement record. A company may have other public-sector work that is absent, older, below publication thresholds or published without a Companies House identifier.
13 Environmental register
Environment Agency waste registrations
No exact company-number registration linked
The licensed Environment Agency subset did not contain this exact Companies House number. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
This is a privacy-reduced, exact-company subset. The full official register also includes sole traders and applicants without a matching Companies House number. Check the current Environment Agency register before relying on registration status.
14 Nature of business
Standard Industrial Classification
15 Connected public record
Checks beyond the company register
Charity Commission
0 exact company-number links.
Northern Ireland charities
0 unambiguous company-number links.
Public contracts
0 procurement processes linked by exact GB-COH identifier.
Waste register
0 exact company-number registrations.
Corporate notices
The Gazette is not yet connected.
UK Sanctions List
No exact business-registration-number link in this report.
A checked source with no exact link is not a clean bill of health. Unchecked sources remain unknown, while sanctions may also apply through ownership or control of a listed person or entity.
16 Record timeline
Dates in the bulk record
- Confirmation statement
Latest confirmation statement made up to this date
- Accounts
Latest accounts made up to this date
- Incorporation
Company incorporated
17 Provenance
Sources for this profile
Identity, address, status, dates, SIC, previous names and mortgage totals.
Annual employer reports linked by the exact source-supplied Companies House number.
Statutory supplier-payment reports linked by the exact source-supplied Companies House number.
Global legal identities linked through Companies House registration authority RA000585.
Annual statement summaries linked by exact source company number.
Privacy-reduced candidate associations based on a unique exact name-and-postcode match.
Current and ceased significant-control records joined by exact company number.
Daily England and Wales extract matched only by the official company registration number.
Daily CCNI export with company links only where the source number resolves unambiguously.
Complete FCDO list checked by exact UK-linked business registration number.
Procurement parties checked only through exact GB-COH identifiers.
Licensed subset linked only by exact Companies House number.
Financial regulation and licences.
Companies House, Charity Commission, OSCR and UK Sanctions List information is public-register data. BritDB reproduces and organises it with source-specific limits; official external links are kept on the dedicated source pages.