Report April 2022
We analyse Companies House “basic company data” up to the March 31st, 2022. We note additional company registration relative to February 2022. The firm creation among active firms remains stronger than the same period in 2019 and 2020, but similar than the same period in 2021.
Highlights
- Business creation increased 17.8% between February 2022 and March 2022.
- Business creation was 109% higher in March 2022 than in March 2020 and 1.1% higher in March 2022 than in March 2021.
- The largest number of company registrations occurs in ‘Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ and ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’.
Aggregate Analysis
Daily
The chart below shows the daily company incorporations in the UK since January 2020. The lockdown periods correspond to our key dates timeline.
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- Business creation increased by 17.79% between February and March 2022.
- 35,271 additional companies were registered in March 2022 relative to March 2019.
- 39,784 more company registrations are noticed in March 2022 relative to March 2020.
- 836 more company registrations are noticed in March 2022 relative to March 2021.
- The median daily registrations were 72.3% higher in March 2022 than March 2019.
The chart below shows the rolling average of firm creation since January 2019. Shaded areas correspond to lockdown periods as shown our key dates timeline.
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Company registrations persistently exceed their 2019 levels. A similar pattern is observed between the ratios of 2021/2019 and 2022/2019 during the first 12 weeks of the year.
Download data as:March
Daily average company registrations in March 2022 are 104.7% higher than March 2020, but 82% higher than March 2019 among the active firms. However, it is 1.1% higher than March 2021. We note that the big difference relative to 2020 is related to the start of the first national lockdown in the UK.
Download data as:Regional Analysis
Postcode Area
The map shows the average percentage change in new registrations in March 2022 compared to the active firms of March 2019.
Country
The following graph aggregates business creation by country. London, followed by Wales and Scotland, dominates business registrations.
Download data as:London
Within London, most of the business creation in February 2022 comes from Central and East of London.
Download data as:Sectoral Analysis
SIC Sections
The graph illustrates company registrations in March 2022 relative to 2019 by industrial sector. It compares the percentage change in 2022 relative to 2019 for each week. We use 4-digit SIC levels (ONS “Classes”) and group them into broader sectors (ONS “Sections”). We use the ONS classification. We show a selection of sectors that present notable changes.
- March 2022 retains higher firm creation in most sectors than March 2019.
- ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’, ‘Wholesale, and Retail Trade’ and ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’ sectors show the greatest increase in firm creation in March 2022.
- Compared to March 2019, in March 2022 there is more than a 300% increase in business creation for ‘Manufacture of bricks, tiles and construction products, in baked clay’, ‘Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet’ and ‘Event catering activities’ sectors.
- There are lower registrations relative to March 2019 in ‘Packaging activities’, ‘Warehousing and storage’, ‘Other information service activities n.e.c.’ sectors.