Lesley Crosland
25 February, 2025
Business

Number of companies in Bedfordshire hits record high

New figures just published reveal that in 2024 the number of companies in Bedfordshire was the highest ever recorded – in a year that presented a range of challenges for business. During the last 12 months, registered companies grew to an all-time high of 53,808 – up from 52,721 at the end of 2023 – and 8,251 new businesses were established in the county.

John Korchak, Inform Direct

The statistics are taken from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations, using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

 

Luton formed the most new businesses (4,327), followed by Central Bedfordshire (2,136) and Bedford (1,772).

 

John Korchak, Managing Director at Inform Direct, said: “It is really good news that Bedfordshire can celebrate a record number of companies.

 

“The year undoubtedly presented a range of challenges for business with the uncertainty of the General Election, the introduction of new regulations and concerns over Labour’s first Budget in October which included the increase in employer National Insurance. World events also played a part in economic volatility with the US Election and instability in the Middle East high up on the list.

 

“Despite all these factors, businesspeople in Bedfordshire demonstrated great resilience and inspired leadership, evidenced in this successful result.”

 

The UK as a whole mirrored this trend with a record total of 5,637,210 companies, an increase on the previous 12 months of 5,476,772. There were 848,192 formations during the year and 690,501 dissolutions.

 

To see a more detailed picture of company formations in Bedfordshire – including a full local breakdown – visit: www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2024/bedfordshire/

 

To see the report in full, visit:  www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2024/

Inform Direct, part of Bright Software Group, is a company secretarial and formations specialist. Its award-winning company secretarial and formations software currently supports more than 450,000 UK companies.