Number of companies in Oxfordshire hits record high

Latest figures show that the number of companies in Oxfordshire reached a record high during 2021 despite the continuing economic challenges resulting from the pandemic.

The total number of registered companies in Oxfordshire rose to 45,883. During the year 5,053 new businesses were registered in the county.

The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Cherwell formed the highest number of new businesses (1,215), followed by Oxford (1,147) and South Oxfordshire (1,014).

John Korchak (pictured), Operations Director at Inform Direct said: “It is excellent news to see so many new businesses being started in Oxfordshire, a trend which has propelled the county to a new record number of resident companies.

“Oxfordshire boasts an active economy, demonstrated by this latest increase in the number of businesses based in the county. Entrepreneurs are clearly motivated to invest in new businesses which meet current and emerging demands for goods or services. The overall picture for the UK as a whole is also an optimistic one with the total number of companies now exceeding five million for the very first time.”

The UK saw 771,617 new businesses formed, compared to 780,760 in 2020. The overall number of UK companies totalled 5,005,147, a 3.5% increase on the total of 4,837,426 at the end of 2020. This continues a ten-year trend which shows the number of businesses in the UK doubling in that period.

Whilst company formations grew, the number of dissolutions across the UK, 606,912 during 2021, hit a record high. Reasons for this may be that new enterprises set up early in the pandemic may no longer be operating as people have returned to full-time employment or businesses thriving pre-Covid-19 have suffered as behavioural and spending patterns have changed.