Analysis conducted by small business lender iwoca has found that 93 new businesses were created every hour across the UK during the first half of this year.

This finding was revealed in the lender’s latest Small Business HotSpots list, which was compiled using original analysis of Companies House data. In total, just over 402,000 businesses were registered between January and June 2022, which represents an 18% increase from the previous year.

The data also showed that London saw the highest rate of business creation per capita, with 1,587 new businesses per 100,000 people. The capital city also dominated the local authorities list, with Camden recording the largest number of new business registrations per capita and the remaining nine top ten local authorities all located within London.

West Midlands and the North West were placed second and third on the regional list, with 571 and 554 new businesses created per 100,000 people, respectively. In contrast, Scotland featured at the bottom of the table with a rate of only 338 new businesses per 100,000, while the North East was second to last with a comparative figure of 345.