Over 1,500 companies registered in Rochdale in 2015

More companies were registered in Greater Manchester last year than in any year previously, including 1,547 in the Borough of Rochdale, according to new figures.

There were 28,265 new companies formed in the area in 2015 - up 11.4% on the year before.

This means there are now 156,025 firms in the region – making it the most successful business hub outside London.

The statistics were compiled by www.informdirect.co.uk, a provider of online company formations and secretarial software, using data available from Companies House and the Office of National Statistics.

Its report - The Inform Direct Review of UK Company Formations in 2015 - includes a league table of company formations county by county as well as statistics on firms registered and dissolved and percentage growth.

It has revealed that for the 12 months ended 31st December 2015, there were a record-breaking 612,565 firms formed across the United Kingdom - up from 586,784 the year before.

Of those, 551,886 companies were in England, 34,711 in Scotland, 14,689 in Wales and 7,254 in Northern Ireland.

Henry Catchpole, managing director of Inform Direct said: “Our dynamic economy and business-friendly environment are the reasons there is a ‘Great’ in Great Britain.

“All around the world, governments are spending time and money to figure out the best way to foster an entrepreneurial culture that helps boost the economy.

“But here in the UK, our politicians can nurture this business mentality that has established itself organically.

“Of course London has always stormed ahead in business but our figures from 2015 demonstrate that the rest of the UK is also displaying a growing confidence in entrepreneurialism.

“Manchester has had an impressive year with a record number of new firms registered, spread right across the region.”

Of the new companies created last year in Greater Manchester, 8,801 were in central Manchester, 3,351 in Trafford, 2,931 in Stockport, 2,534 in Salford and 2,511 in Bolton.

There were a further 1,929 registered in Bury, 1,734 in Wigan, 1,547 in Rochdale, 1,520 in Oldham and 1,407 in Tameside.

Inform Direct used its software to identify not only start-ups, but also the number of UK companies dissolved in the same period.

This has created an accurate picture of firms now registered county by county in the UK.

The total figure for the UK at the start of 2016 stood at 3.76 million.