Record number of start-ups founded in Lancashire

New figures show a record number of new companies registered in Lancashire in 2020.

Across the year, 12,655 new companies were registered in the county compared with 11,229 during 2019, representing an increase of 12.7 per cent.

This brings the total number of registered companies in Lancashire to 83,690, up from 77,937 at the end of 2019, which equates to 7.4 per cent growth.

Preston formed the highest number of new businesses (1,704), followed by Blackburn with Darwen (1,641) and Blackpool (1,071).

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

John Korchak, operations director at Inform Direct said: "Many of the new company formations are in the retail sector, with a large number of new businesses set up to sell goods online or locally, thereby taking advantage of customers’ changing shopping habits.

"Secondly, the effect of the pandemic and national lockdowns means that sadly some existing businesses have folded and employees made redundant, and we see many of those people setting up new ventures on their own as an alternative way to earn a living.

"2020 was a year like no other for UK businesses. Although we can look forward to a brighter future with the vaccination programme, there remain unknown factors such as how quickly the economy will recover and of course the impact of Brexit."

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