Optimism As Number Of New Companies Grow In Northern Ireland

New figures just published have revealed that there were a record number of new companies established in Northern Ireland in 2021. The figures come from Inform Direct, which harvests data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Total Of 9,358 New Companies Established

In all there was a total of 9,358 new companies established in 2021, this compares favourably with the previous year which recorded 8,477 new companies being formed. The total number of businesses in the north grew to 74,050 at the end of 2021 compared to 70,199 a year earlier, so there is great cause for optimism within the business community. Entrepreneurs in the country don`t seem to have been put off by the recent effects of the pandemic, instead they are pushing forward with their plans to create new businesses and jobs, which can only be good for everyone. Incidentally the areas incorporating Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon had a total of 1,019 new businesses created in 2021.

Active Economy With Entrepreneurs Motivated To Invest In Businesses

John Korchak, director of operations at Inform Direct, is quoted in an article on the Irish News website, saying:

“It’s great that Northern Ireland hit a double record high during 2021, despite the unprecedented uncertainties brought by Covid-19.

“Reaching a record high in the number of new formations, as well as existing companies, demonstrates an active economy with entrepreneurs motivated to invest in new businesses which meet current and emerging demands for goods or services.

The Overall Picture Across The UK Is An Optimistic One

“The overall picture for the UK as a whole is also an optimistic one with the total number of companies now exceeding five million for the very first time.”

Here are the overall numbers from the UK as copied from the same article in the Irish News:

`The UK saw 771,617 new businesses formed, compared to 780,760 in 2020. The overall number of UK companies totalled 5,005,147, a 3.5 per cent increase on the total of 4,837,426 at the end of 2020.

This continues a ten-year trend which shows the number of businesses in the UK doubling in that period.`

This is all good news and although there are plenty of challenges ahead for businesses in Northern Ireland there is no doubt that we are in a much better place than we were a year ago and we can look forward to a much more stable year.