Study by company information specialist DueDil reveals 1,469 new businesses were registered in the city in January, February and March this year – up from 1,207 in Q1 2016. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool saw an almost 22% surge in business start-ups in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, new data shows.

A study by company information specialist DueDil reveals 1,469 new businesses were registered in the city in January, February and March this year.

This was a 21.7% rise on the 1,207 firms that started up in the first quarter of 2016.

The study also shows there was a total of 4,928 start-ups in Liverpool in 2016 and DuDil is projecting this to rise 21.7% to 5,998 this year.

Fourth-best

Liverpool was the fourth-best location for percentage growth of start-ups in the UK in the first quarter, according to the survey, with Salford coming out on top with a massive 85.5% increase, followed by Leicester and Norwich.

London experienced a modest startup growth rate of 5.12% during the period.

However, despite failing to clinch a spot in the top five for startup growth, London continued to produce more startups than anywhere else in the UK, with 57,235 new companies starting up in the capital in the first quarter of 2017.

Top producers

Despite comparatively slower growth, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Leeds are the top producers of startups during the period of January to March 2017.

Overall 173,100 new companies started up in the UK between January and March 2017, representing an overall decrease from the same period in 2016.

Cautious attitude

Justin Fitzpatrick, chief operating officer and co-founder of DueDil ,said, “Interestingly, just a handful of the UK’s major cities made the overall top 20 for startup growth, with cities such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds all absent from the top rankings, suggesting that they are slowly losing their grip on their status as the UK’s startup growth.

“The overall decrease in startup growth across the UK, is perhaps demonstrating a cautious attitude towards enterprise with Brexit looming. Banks and alternative finance providers have an opportunity to play a role in growth through investment.”