Start-ups in South Yorkshire hit a new record

Some 9,290 firms were set up in 2015 - up on 8,318 the year before - growth of 11.7 per cent.

It means that, including the 5,359 companies that were dissolved, there was a total of 52,205 firms in South Yorkshire, which is also a record.

The statistics were compiled by www.informdirect.co.uk using data from Companies House and the Office of National Statistics.

Managing director Henry Catchpole said: “Our dynamic economy and business-friendly environment are the reasons there is a ‘Great’ in Great Britain.

“All around the world, governments are spending time and money to figure out the best way to foster an entrepreneurial culture that helps boost the economy.

“But here in the UK this business mentality has established itself organically.

“Of course London has always stormed ahead in business but our figures from 2015 demonstrate that the rest of the UK is also displaying a growing confidence.

“South Yorkshire has had a very successful year and the figures indicate a surge in entrepreneurialism in 2015 for this region.”

Of the new companies created last year in South Yorkshire, 3,742 were in Sheffield, 3,006 in Doncaster, 1,454 in Rotherham and 1,088 in Barnsley.

The total pushed South Yorkshire up the table to 13th nationally for the number of companies formed.

London was first with 198,282, followed by Manchester on 28,265, then the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside, which was 12th.

The county had 6.9 companies per 100,000 people compared to 9.7 nationally.

For the 12 months ended December 31, there were a record-breaking 612,565 firms formed across the United Kingdom - up from 586,784 the year before.

Of those, 551,886 companies were in England, 34,711 in Scotland, 14,689 in Wales and 7,254 in Northern Ireland.

The total figure for the UK at the start of 2016 stood at 3.76 million.

In South Yorkshire last year, there were 6.9 incorporations per 1,000 people compared to 9.7 nationally. In total, there were 38.8 companies in South Yorkshire per 1,000 people, compared to 59.4 nationally.

Five years ago, in 2011, some 6,341 companies were formed and 4,635 dissolved, to make a total of 39,946 firms.

In 2012, 6,428 were set up and 4,493 were dissolved, a total of 41,881.

Since then the number of firms established - and shut down - has risen every year.