New analysis of Companies House data by Yell Business has revealed that Llandudno in Wales is the start-up capital of the UK, with more businesses formed in the Welsh coastal town per capita, than anywhere else during 2021. 

The report, that looked at every business formed in the UK during 2021, helps to show that despite another challenging year, the entrepreneurial spirit of the UK is alive and well, with more businesses founded per month in 2021 than in 2020, or even during pre-pandemic 2019.

With an average of 13% more new businesses founded each month in 2021 vs. 2019, the analysis pinpointed which areas of the UK were the most entrepreneurial, by calculating the number of new businesses formed in each location while factoring in population size. The research shows that big business doesn’t just start in the city, the humble Welsh town of Llandudno took the top spot, while Surrey’s Redhill and Tunbridge Wells in Kent followed.

Cheshire also stands out as being the most entrepreneurial county in the UK, with Chester, Stockport and Warrington all featuring in the top 20.

The 20 Areas That Saw the Most New Businesses Founded in 2021

Rank	Location	Businesses Founded (Per 100 People)
1.	Llandudno, North Wales	16.2
2.	Redhill, Surrey	11.6
3.	Tunbridge Wells, Kent	10.8
4.	Truro, Cornwall	7.8
5.	Motherwell, North Lanarkshire	7.0
6.	Guildford, Surrey	6.4
7.	Walsall, West Midlands	6.1
8.	Chester, Cheshire	5.9
9.	Canterbury, Kent	5.8
10.	Chelmsford, Essex	5.8
11.	Dudley, West Midlands	5.6
12.	Dorchester, Dorset	5.2
13.	Stockport, Cheshire	5.1
14.	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire	4.7
15.	Doncaster, South Yorkshire	4.6
16.	Hereford, Herefordshire	4.0
17.	Peterborough, Cambridgeshire	3.8
18.	Stevenage, Hertfordshire	3.7
19.	Falkirk, Scottish Central Lowlands	3.6
20.	Warrington, Cheshire	3.6

Of the impressive 718,441 UK businesses that were founded up to and including November 2021, Retail was the industry that saw the biggest boom, with 119,948 start-ups registered within the sector, accounting for 16% of all new business ventures. This was closely followed by businesses offering Professional Services and Real Estate companies.

The 10 Fastest Growing Sectors in 2021

Rank	Sector	Businesses Founded in 2021
1.	Retail	119,948
2.	Professional Services	116,669
3.	Real Estate	109,570
4.	Commercial Services	67,858
5.	Hospitality	64,404
6.	Construction	61,035
7.	Wholesale	45,578
8.	Information and Communication	37,175
9.	Manufacturing	36,538
10.	Health and Social Work	36,753

Claire Miles, Chief Executive Officer of Yell commented:

“With the challenges of the last two years, we might expect to find that fewer people were deciding to take the leap into the world of starting their own business. However, the data clearly shows that it has potentially inspired more people to take ownership of what they do for a living and finally make the dream of running their own business come true.

With the background of the pandemic and numerous economic and supply chain challenges, it’s really encouraging to see that the entrepreneurial spirit of the UK is continuing to grow year on year. We look forward to working with some of these new business owners in 2022, to help make their venture a success”.

Yell’s extensive research also revealed where budding entrepreneurs could find the biggest opportunities for certain business types. This was achieved by analysing Google search demand for the likes of ‘London accountants’ versus the actual number of businesses offering the particular service in each area. Revealing that demand for businesses such as hairdressers in Oxford far outweighs the supply and therefore could present an opportunity for any stylists looking to go it alone.

Further breakdowns of these findings can be found in the full report published on: https://business.yell.com/sme-insight/the-entrepreneurial-spirit-of-the-uk