UK sees record second quarter for creation of new businesses

RESEARCH shows more British businesses were set up between April and June this year than in any second quarter in history.

UK start-ups record second quarter
Image by rawpixel.com

The study by tax app Ember found that 190,639 companies were incorporated at Companies House. That equates to 2,095 new businesses each day, or 87 every hour. The previous high was in 2020, when — despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic — 176,115 businesses were created in the second three months of the year.

Overall, Q2 of 2021 was one of the UK’s best quarters for incorporations, behind only the third and fourth quarters of 2020, and the first three months of 2021, during each of which more than 200,000 businesses were created.

In total, 402,007 businesses were created in the first six months of 2021, close to surpassing the 440,638 new companies incorporated in the whole of 2011.

The calendar year of 2020 saw the number of new businesses hit 768,777, an average of 192,194 per quarter, or 2,106 each day. Until end of June, new companies were being incorporated at an average rate of 2,221 each day, which puts the UK on course for a record number of new businesses in a calendar year — more than 800,000.

Ember co-founder Daniel Hogan said that July of 2020 was the start of a UK business boom. “That has been followed by three more quarters of impressive growth, and it’s great to see so many new companies being created.”