505 firms registered in Londonderry last year but we languish mid-table

The total number of companies in the local Council district stood at 3,701 at the end of the year, the report has also stated.

There were, however, more registrations in Belfast (2,068), Newry, Mourne and Down (870), Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (623), North Down and Ards (527), and Lisburn and Castlereagh (515) during the year and most of these districts also had more companies registered.

The areas with the most existing companies were Belfast (15,391), Newry, Mourne and Down (5,363), Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (4,844), Mid Ulster (4,012) and then Londonderry with 3,701.

According to ‘The Inform Direct Review of UK Company Formations in 2015’ more companies were registered in Northern Ireland last year than in any year previously.

There were 7,254 companies registered during 2015 – up 7.4 per cent on the year before. The UK average was a 4.3 per cent increase year on year.

This brings the total number of businesses in NI to 52,131 – a record high. It also represents a 7.4 per cent increase on the amount of active companies at the end of 2015 compared to at the end of 2014.

A breakdown of the type of companies formed in NI shows 93.4 per cent (6,776) were Private Limited Companies and 6.6 per cent (478) were listed as “other company types”. Of these 478 firms 34.3 per cent (164) were Companies Limited by Guarantee; 25.7 per cent (123) were Limited Partnerships; 18.4 per cent (88) were Limitied Liability Partnerships; 17.8 per cent (85) were Community Interest Companies; 3.6 per cent (17) were listed as “other;” and 0.2 per cent (1 firm) was a Public Limited Company.

There were 7.254 new businesses formed in Northern Ireland in 2015 whilst 3,810 were dissolved and there were four incorporations per 100,000 people compared with 9.7 in the UK as a whole.

Henry Catchpole, managing director of Inform Direct claimed: “Northern Ireland has had a very successful year and the figures indicate a surge in entrepreneurialism in 2015 for this region.”

The report reveals that for the 12 months ended December 31, 2015, there were a record-breaking 612,565 firms formed across the United Kingdom - up from 586,784 the year before.

Of those, 551,886 companies were in England, 34,711 in Scotland, 14,689 in Wales and 7,254 in Northern Ireland.

Mr Catchpole said: “All around the world, governments are spending time and money to figure out the best way to foster an entrepreneurial culture that helps boost the economy.”

“But here in the UK, our politicians can nurture this business mentality that has established itself organically.”