The ONS published today business demographics for the three years to March 2023, using PAYE and VAT data to figures out how many businesses are operating in the UK, with breakdowns by region, type of business, payrolls and sector. Guess what? The North has some of the fastest growing corporate demographics, and is now statistically the dominant commercial region of the UK.
2023’s survey finds the North encompassing the North East, North West and Yorkshire already Britain’s leading commercial region, surpassing London for the first time in recent years. In 2023, the North West was home to 9.8% of the UK’s companies, Yorkshire had 7.1% and North East 2.7%. Combined the North, then has 19.6% of the UK’s companies. This proportion is up from 19.3% in 2021, telling us that the North is now leading in commercial adventure.
Some comparisons are worth making. London’s share has slipped to 19.3% in 2023, down from 19.4% in 2022. As for Scotland, despite or perhaps because of their fiscal pampering, their companies represent only 6.3% of the UK’s companies.
There are clear differences in the sort of business structures in the North East compared with North West and Yorkshire. In short, North East is home to bigger proportion of large companies, with those employing more than 100 people accounting for 19.5% of North East’s corporate population, compared with 9.8% in the North West and only 7.1% in Yorkshire. Conversely, the North East has the smallest proportion of micro-companies, at 73.8% of the total, compared with 76.3% in North West and 75.4% in Yorkshire.
I take two things from this. First, the North does not understand or appreciate its underlying commercial vitality or opportunity. More companies than London, more than the South East, more than the Midlands (14.7% of UK’s total), and, of course, incomparably more than Scotland. It needs to embrace and celebrate this as a sign of its determination, imagination and commercial acumen. Second, clearly there’s a different and more capital-intensive model working in the North East which maybe the North West and Yorkshire need to join and emulate.