Region celebrates record year for new businesses
A record number of new businesses were established across the region last year – despite the challenges of political and economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
In terms of new companies, figures show 2,634 were registered in Shropshire, 32,571 in the West Midlands and 6,474 in Staffordshire.
Compared with 2017, Shropshire saw an increase of 6.5 per cent, the West Midlands 5.1 per cent and Staffordshire 1.7 per cent.
There were 993 companies formed in Telford and Wrekin, with the remaining companies established elsewhere in the county.
In the West Midlands, Birmingham formed the most new businesses, followed by Coventry and Sandwell.
It brings the total number of registered companies in Shropshire to 22,421, the West Midlands to 167,807 and Staffordshire to 48,752.
Meanwhile, the figures also show the number of companies to dissolve last year was 1,851 in Shropshire, 23,710 in the West Midlands and 4,877 in Staffordshire.
In Powys 475 were formed and a further 366 were dissolved in 2018, bringing the total number of registered companies in the region to 4,892.
Positive
The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of UK Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.
John Korchak, director of operations at Inform Direct said: “These record high figures for new company formations in Shropshire and the West Midlands show a very positive picture for business against a background of political and economic uncertainty.
"It is clear that the county continues to provide a supportive environment, both for new business ventures and existing enterprises.
“It is heartening to see entrepreneurs making their mark with increasing numbers of new businesses being formed. This picture is mirrored elsewhere in the UK, with a number of regions seeing more new formations in 2018 than at any time in their history and the UK as a whole achieving a new record total of registered companies.”
Across the UK as a whole, a record number of new companies were formed – 669,855 compared with 634,116 in 2017.
The number of registered companies in the UK also continued to grow, finishing the year with a total of 4,308,022.
London topped the charts for the most number of new companies with 217,617, while the West Midlands was second with 32,571, Staffordshire 26th and Shropshire 42nd.
To see a more detailed picture of company formations in the region – including a full local breakdown – visit informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2018
