NEW figures have revealed more new businesses were established in North Yorkshire during 2017 than in any previous year.

In terms of new companies, 6,766 were registered in the county compared to 6,525 in 2016.

The figures, compiled by the Inform Direct Review of UK Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics, shows North Yorkshire bucking the national trend which saw an overall reduction in new company formations.

During 2017, North Yorkshire also passed a significant milestone with more than 50,000 companies now based in the county – finishing the year with 50,798, up from 48,164 at the end of 2016, which equates to 5.5 per cent growth.

Within the North Yorkshire boundaries used for the data, York formed the most new businesses with the figure for the city standing at 1,239, followed by Harrogate (1,151) and Middlesbrough (1,012).

John Korchak, director of Operations at Inform Direct said: “These record figures for new company formations during 2017 show that North Yorkshire continues to be a particularly fertile ground for entrepreneurs and new business ventures.

“The results buck the national trend which saw an overall reduction in the number of new company formations compared to 2016. This slowdown could be attributed, at least in part, to ongoing political uncertainty and concern in the business community over the impact of Brexit.”

Across the UK as a whole, there was a reduction in the number of new company formations – 634,116 compared with 664,720 at the end of 2016.

However the number of registered companies in the UK continued to grow, passing the 4,000,000 milestone during 2017 and finishing the year with a total of 4,120,349.

Of the 569,585 formations in England, 205,527 were in London. 34,002 companies were formed in Scotland, 17,408 in Wales and 7,398 in Northern Ireland.

The statistics show there were 6.3 new incorporations in 2017 per 1000 people, compared to a national average of 10.

While 6,766 businesses formed in North Yorkshire during 2017, the region also saw 4,636 businesses dissolved during the same period.

The figure of 50,798 businesses currently registered in North Yorkshire has risen every year since 2013 when the county was home to 40,638 businesses. However the overall growth rate, currently at 5.5 per cent, has dropped since 2013 when it stood at 7.2 per cent.