A new report from Inform Direct reveals that the UK set a new record in company formations during 2023, surpassing 900,000 for the first time.

The report, which is based on figures from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics, shows that a total of 900,006 new companies were registered last year, marking an 11.8% increase from the 805,141 companies established in 2022.

London saw the creation of the largest number of new companies, totalling 313,446. The West Midlands and Greater Manchester followed with 44,594 and 41,222 new companies, respectively.

The establishment of these new businesses has led to a record sum of 5,476,772 companies in the UK. This reflects a one-year growth rate of 4.6% and a five-year growth of 27.1%. The dissolution of UK companies also increased to 662,915 from the 2022 figure of 578,679.

In terms of new formations by country, England recorded 769,385, Scotland had 38,926, Wales saw 27,162, and Northern Ireland had 13,704. Each country experienced growth in the number of incorporations and in the overall count of companies based within their borders.

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