iwoca — the small business lender — analysed Companies House data to track the rates of business creation across the UK’s regions and local authorities, comparing data from H1 2023 with previously recorded figures.

In Glasgow, 22 businesses were created a day during the first half of this year, with registrations totalling 4,038. This equates to 636 new businesses being created per 100,000 people, and marks an increase of 8% over the first half of last year.

It also means that for the third year in a row, Glasgow saw the highest business creation per capita out of all local authorities in Scotland.

Edinburgh saw the second highest number of companies created, at 595 registrations per 100,000 people. Edinburgh is followed by Dundee at 424 per 100,000 people, and then Aberdeen at 383 per 100,000.

As was the case last year, Scotland experienced the lowest rate of new business creation per capita out of all British regions in H1 2023, with 365 per 100,000. However, this did represent an increase of 8% from 2022.

Across Britain as a whole, 99 new businesses were created every hour in H1 2023, with 436,000 new businesses being created. Compared to the same period in 2022, this is an increase of 9% – indicating the British business economy is somewhat re-emerging from financial uncertainty of recent years.

Of all British regions, London saw the highest rate of business creation in the first half of this year, with 1,768 new businesses being created per 100,000 people. The North West (612) and the West Midlands (574) rank second and third respectively.

iwoca’s findings have been compiled as the Business Hotspots 2023 list.

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Seema Desai, iwoca’s chief operating officer, commented on the data, saying: “It is encouraging to see so many new businesses being created during the first half of this year, despite high inflation and economic uncertainty.

“iwoca’s Business Hotspots 2023 list shows that the spirit of entrepreneurship is strong across the whole country, with tens of thousands of businesses being created in each region. This will be vital for the country’s economic growth over the next few years, and is a huge vote of confidence in the UK as a place to do business.”