Britain incorporated 388,922 companies in the first half of 2026, up 9 per cent year on year and equivalent to 90 new businesses an hour, according to iwoca's annual Business Hotspots report. Scotland recorded the strongest growth at 16 per cent, while Wales was the only nation or region to decline, down 23 per cent to 11,668.
The rebound follows a sharp contraction. Registrations fell 21 per cent over the same period in 2025 after Companies House introduced tighter identity and registration requirements, and this year's total remains below the 2024 peak of 456,430.
It also came despite a higher cost of entry. Companies House doubled the fee for digital incorporation from £50 to £100 in February 2026, a change that appears not to have deterred formation volumes.
The geographic spread was broad. Ten of Britain's eleven regions and devolved nations recorded increases, and 164 local authorities saw registrations rise, against just three a year earlier.
London's share continued to grow. The capital accounted for more than a third of all registrations with 133,148 new companies, up from 114,905 in the first half of 2025, and London boroughs took eight of the top ten places for business creation per head.
Camden led the national table for a sixth consecutive year with 9,847 new businesses per 100,000 residents, ahead of Hackney on 6,250 and Islington on 6,016.
Manchester was the highest-ranked local authority outside London, seventh nationally with 1,308 new businesses per 100,000 residents, up from thirteenth last year. Herefordshire was the only other non-London entry in the top ten, climbing from twenty-ninth to ninth with 1,169 per 100,000.
Scotland's 16 per cent rise took registrations to 20,720, recovering from a 17 per cent fall the previous year. Glasgow remained the country's leading hub for a sixth year, up 9 per cent to 4,236 incorporations, ahead of Edinburgh on 3,293.
Wales moved the other way. Registrations dropped 23 per cent to 11,668, following a 39 per cent decline in 2025. Cardiff, the nation's largest business centre, saw incorporations fall a further 55 per cent on top of last year's 52 per cent drop — the steepest decline of any local authority in Britain.
"New businesses are a strong indicator of confidence in the economy, so it's encouraging to see registrations bounce back this year following last year's slowdown," said Seema Desai, chief operations officer at iwoca.
Formation volumes tell only part of the story. Separate figures published the same day, from Cynergy Bank's Business Births and Deaths Index using ONS data, show companies created in the first half of 2026 generated £47.8bn of turnover while closures removed £51.2bn — a £3.3bn shortfall. The employment picture was similar, with 411,962 jobs created against 459,463 lost, a net deficit of 47,501 roles.
For investors, the two datasets sit awkwardly together: the top of the funnel is refilling, but the economic value leaving through closures is still outpacing what new incorporations bring in.
Original source: Startups Magazine — https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/90-new-businesses-created-every-hour-as-business-registrations-rebound
