Hampshire proved a hotspot for budding entrepreneurs in 2023, with new business figures soaring.

A grand total of 15,385 new formations were registered in the county last year, marking a 5.9 per cent rise from 2022's 14,533.

This encouraging data, unveiled in the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations, using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics, catapults the total number of registered companies in Hampshire to a record 126,128.

Among the county’s districts, Southampton took the lead, registering 2,627 new establishments, closely followed by Portsmouth, recording 2,129 businesses.

Meanwhile, across the UK, the country welcomed 900,006 new enterprises in 2023, an 11.8 per cent surge from the previous year's tally of 805,141.

However, dissolutions of UK companies totalled 662,915, an increase on the 578,679 companies dissolved in 2022.

John Korchak, managing director at Inform Direct, said: “It is excellent news that Hampshire can celebrate a successful year for new company formations during 2023. The year undoubtedly presented a range of challenges for business including tepid predictions of economic growth, volatility in energy prices and uncertainty from world events.

"However, the formation figures demonstrate very clearly that Hampshire entrepreneurs remained undeterred and pursued their ambitions to establish new ventures.

"This positive picture is mirrored in the overall position for the UK which saw the highest ever number of new companies established during 2023. The total number of UK formations exceeded 900,000 for the very first time."