Devon achieves second record year for new businesses

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Thursday, January 23, 2020 - 6:02am

Latest statistics show that more new businesses were established in Devon during 2019 than in any previous year – hitting a record high for the second year in a row.

Despite political and economic challenges, 6,196 new companies were registered in the county compared to 5,908 during 2018, representing an increase of 4.9%. 

This brings the total number of registered companies in Devon to 53,264, up from 51,129 at the end of 2018 - which equates to 4.2% growth.

The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Plymouth formed the highest number of new businesses (1,364), followed by Exeter (858) and Torbay (830).

John Korchak, Director of Operations at Inform Direct said: “Reporting a record year – the second in a row – for new company formations in Devon during a turbulent year, politically and economically, is a major achievement. Attracting new ventures and encouraging entrepreneurs to set up there, means that the county is clearly delivering positive support for business.

“With Brexit uncertainty casting a shadow – and some companies experiencing falling sales or choosing to relocate internationally – it is heartening that we are seeing signs of business optimism with so many new companies being created. This picture is mirrored nationally with an all-time high of nearly 700,000 new businesses formed in the UK as a whole.” 

Alongside this record number of formations – 690,763 compared to 669,855 in 2018 – the overall number of UK companies also continued to grow, with a new high of 4,471,008, a 3.8% increase on the total of 4,308,022 at the end of 2018.

To see a more detailed picture of company formations in Devon – including a full local breakdown, visit:

https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2019/devon/

To see the report in full visit:

 https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2019/

Inform Direct is a company secretarial and formation specialist. Its award-winning company secretarial and formations software currently supports more than 150,000 UK companies.

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