One new UK start-up born every minute in 2014

New research has found that more than half-a-million (581,173) new businesses were founded in the UK last year; that’s more than one every minute.

That’s according to data from national enterprise campaign, StartUp Britain, which is run by the Centre for Entrepreneurs think-tank.

This beats the previous all-time high of 526,446 new businesses created in 2013, while only 484,224 start-ups were formed in 2012.

These annual figures were taken direct from StartUp Britain’s tracker, which is an online tool that calculates the number of new businesses registered with Companies House on a daily, monthly and yearly basis.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London was the top performing city in the UK for new business, with 184,671 start-ups formed in the capital during the last 12 months. England’s second city, Birmingham has become the leading start-up hub outside of London, with 18,337 new company formations, followed by Manchester with 13,054.

The only city in the UK which experienced a contraction in the number of new businesses formed in 2014 was Stockport – which is somewhat surprising considering its proximity to Manchester.

Luke Johnson, chairman, The Centre for Entrepreneurs, said: “Starting a business is easier, quicker and cheaper than ever thanks to new technology.

“Entrepreneurs have higher profiles than in the past and are seen as role models.

“Traditional jobs for life have largely disappeared, as have occupational pensions.”

The report suggests a clear upward trend in the number of businesses starting up outside of London, with new technology and steadily improving transport links making it easier for start-ups to get a foothold in their respective marketplaces.

While the rise in UK start-ups during 2014 has been surprisingly good, the fall in the number of business failures has been similarly stark.

The number of UK firms dropping out of the Companies House register fell by six per cent in 2014, from 253,000 to 238,000.

Date published 8 Jan 2015 | Last updated 8 Jan 2015