Governance & Policy
Unquoted Company
Definition
An unquoted (unlisted) company is one whose shares are not traded on a public stock exchange — the vast majority of businesses by number and a large share of economic activity. The category matters for sustainability regulation because disclosure regimes were built on listed companies: SECR extended UK carbon reporting to large unquoted companies precisely because so much economic activity sits outside listed markets, and CSRD applies to large companies regardless of listing.
References
thresholds: >£36m turnover, >£18m balance sheet total, >250 employees (2 of 3). Quoted companies report global energy/emissions regardless of size.
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)SECR · verified 2026-08-22Official text
This reference provides supporting context for how “Unquoted Company” is defined and used.
Source imported for editorial provenance.
Overview
How it is used
The category structures reporting thresholds (SECR, CSRD size criteria), SME sustainability frameworks, and supply-chain-driven disclosure.
Why it matters
Most of the economy is unquoted; if sustainability rules stop at the stock exchange, they stop at the minority of it.