Recently published figures show that more new businesses were established in Durham and in North Yorkshire during 2023 than in any previous year to date – making the counties among the most successful in the UK.

A total of 5,696 new formations were registered in Durham during the last 12 months, an increase of 11.5% on 2022 when 5,109 were recorded, bringing the number of registered companies in the county to an all-time high of 37,332.

A total of 9,266 new formations were registered in North Yorkshire during the last 12 months, an increase of 10% on 2022 when 8,424 were recorded. This brings the number of registered companies in the county to 65,895.

The statistics are taken from data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics, compiled by the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations.

Across the districts, County Durham formed the highest number of new businesses (2,907), followed by Middlesbrough (1,711), Harrogate (1,556) York (1,480) Stockton (1,363) and Darlington(851).

John Korchak, Managing Director at Inform Direct said: “The year undoubtedly presented a range of challenges for business including tepid predictions of economic growth, volatility in energy prices and uncertainty from world events. However, the formation figures demonstrate very clearly that Durham entrepreneurs remained undeterred and pursued their ambitions to establish new ventures.

“This positive picture is mirrored in the overall position for the UK which saw the highest ever number of new companies established during 2023. The total number of UK formations exceeded 900,000 for the very first time.”

The UK saw 900,006 new companies, compared to 805,141 in 2022, which represents an increase of 11.8%. It brings the total number of UK companies to a record 5,476,772.

Dissolutions of UK companies totalled 662,915, an increase on the 578,679 companies dissolved in 2022.