Member Article

London's 'entrepreneurial spirit' celebrated as UK hits 80 new startups per hour

New figures released today by StartUp Britain has demonstrated the nation’s continued entrepreneurial zeal as new startup figures continued to rise in the first half of this year.

Using figures from Companies House, they found that, up to 31 June this year, 342,927 companies had been set up in the UK this year, equating to 80 new companies every hour.

This currently outpaces the 70 companies that were set up over the course of 2015 which saw 608,110 businesses incorporated with Birmingham, Glasgow and Bournemouth all enjoying particular growth this year.

London has also continued to perform strongly, with 109,443 new companies incorporated in the first half of the year, with the City of London, Islington and Newham all enjoying significant growth in the number of startups in their respective Boroughs.

In fact, the capital is on course to beat the 196,146 companies who were set up in 2015 by over 10%, underlined by the continued tech boom in the city.

Commenting on the statistics, Matt Smith, Director of StartUp Britain, said: “It is fantastic, and does not surprise me, that the number of new start-ups has continued to rise vigorously.

“Entrepreneurship is a personal endeavour, driven by individuals with a passion for turning a business idea into reality. The entrepreneurial spirit is clear as the StartUp Britain Routemaster bus parks in high streets and city squares across the UK.

“There is no better country in which to start a business and that’s as true now as it was a month ago. There will always be risks and uncertainties in the world, but as we can see, entrepreneurs keep rising to the challenge.”

StartUp Britain is currently on a nationwide tour as part of its Natwest and Seedrs-backed campaign that aims to support and inspire budding entrepreneurs.