New research has revealed that more British businesses were set up between April and June this year than any second quarter in history.
The study by tax app Ember found that from the start of April up to the end of June 2021, 190,639 companies were incorporated at Companies House. That equates to 2,095 brand new businesses each day, or 87 every single hour.
It marks the first time that the second quarter of a year has seen more than 190,000 companies created in the UK.
The previous high mark for the second quarter of a year was in 2020, when despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, 176,115 businesses were created in the second three months of the year.
Overall, Q2 of 2021 is one of the UK’s best ever quarters for incorporations, behind only the third and fourth quarters of 2020, and the first three months of this year, during each of which more than 200,000 businesses were created.
In total, 402,007 businesses have been created in the first six months of 2021, which is already close to surpassing the 440,638 new companies incorporated in the whole of 2011.
The calendar year of 2020 saw the number of new businesses totalling 768,777, an average of 192,194 per quarter, or 2,106 each day.
Up the end of June this year, new companies are being incorporated at an average rate of 2,221 each day, which means the UK is on course for its biggest ever number of new businesses in a calendar year – more than 800,000 in total.
Commenting on the study, Ember co-founder Daniel Hogan said:
“July of 2020 seems to have been the starting point for a new business boom in the UK – the third quarter of 2020 saw the highest number of business incorporations in British history. That has been followed by three more quarters of impressive growth, and it’s great to see so many new companies being created.”
The research was conducted by Ember, the tax app that automates users’ accounting and sorts their taxes to help make business admin simpler and more cost effective.
The top ten quarters by number of new businesses incorporated, by Ember
| Rank | Year | Quarter | Number of new businesses incorporated |
| 1 | 2020 | Q3 | 221,020 |
| 2 | 2021 | Q1 | 211,368 |
| 3 | 2020 | Q4 | 201,820 |
| 4 | 2021 | Q2 | 190,639 |
| 5 | 2019 | Q1 | 182,742 |
| 6 | 2020 | Q2 | 176,115 |
| 7 | 2016 | Q2 | 172,935 |
| 8 | 2016 | Q1 | 172,096 |
| 9 | 2017 | Q1 | 170,143 |
| 10 | 2019 | Q2 | 169,976 |
