By Scott Reid
Copyright scotsman
Glasgow has retained its top spot as the most popular place to start a business in Scotland, with 22 companies created every day during the opening six months of the year. New analysis of official data reveals that 17,828 businesses were registered north of the Border between January and June 2025. Releasing its Business Hotspots 2025 report, small businesses lender Iwoca said 99 businesses had been created per day in Scotland during the first half, despite “significant economic challenges”. Its study is derived from an analysis of Companies House data and is likely to include some non-trading companies and subsidiaries being registered by existing businesses. The firm said Glasgow remained Scotland’s premier destination for new business formation, with 626 new companies per 100,000 residents in the first half of the year – significantly above a Scotland-wide average of 328. Edinburgh saw 2,655 businesses created across the first half, with Fife entering the top five for the first time, seeing 799 new businesses registered between January and June. While the number of new businesses in Scotland remained robust, total registrations were actually down 17 per cent compared to the first half of 2024. This followed the introduction of higher Companies House fees and more stringent registration rules in spring 2024, Iwoca noted, as well as persistently low confidence among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The City of Aberdeen saw the biggest drop in business registrations – down 26 per cent, year on year, followed by Edinburgh with a 24 per cent fall. Aberdeenshire had the smallest reduction in new business registrations, down just 2 per cent, compared with the same period in 2024. Across the UK, the number of new companies registered in the first half of 2025 fell 21 per cent compared with last year. Wales saw the largest drop out of all nations and regions, with the number of new registrations falling 39 per cent in the first six months of 2025, while in the south west of England the decline was just 9 per cent – the lowest recorded. This was the first year that registrations fell nationwide since the Business Hotspots index began in 2021. Christoph Rieche, chief executive and co-founder of Iwoca, said: “Start-ups are the fresh organisms in our economic ecosystem, driving innovation, efficiency and future prosperity. While new business registrations fell in 2025 due to stricter Companies House rules across the country, it’s encouraging to see nearly 18,000 new firms still launched in the first half of the year. This clearly shows that Scotland’s entrepreneurial spirit remains incredibly strong. We wish all these founders every success.” A separate report in August showed Scotland had emerged as the second-fastest-growing part of the UK for business formations following a surge in start-up activity in the first half of the year. With a 17.9 per cent increase in new business incorporations, compared to the second half of 2024, Scotland ranked second only to the north east of England in relative growth, according to the latest New Start-up Index from banking giant NatWest and Beauhurst.
