eCommerce trade publications eSellerCafe and Apex Insight have reported on research published by Royal Mail which found a seven per cent increase in companies being incorporated during the lockdown period from March to July 2020 compared to the same period in 2019

The data suggests a ‘robust growth’ of new businesses in the UK during the first COVID lockdown period. Crucially, whilst the highest rate of new businesses founded in 2020 in the UK was in London, 11 per cent of new incorporations were in rural postcodes of England and Wales.

The results are also much less London-centric when considering the year-on-year percentage change in the number of new businesses where eight of the top ten highest figures are outside the capital.

Furthermore, the reports reveal how the number of new incorporations in hamlets and isolated dwellings – the smallest unit of analysis – exceeded that of new corporations in villages.

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail, commented that ‘it is encouraging to see that new business creation is taking place in both urban and rural areas’, and that Royal Mail ‘understands the importance of the postal service in keeping the UK connected at this time’, especially by ensuring that all areas of the UK get the same service for the same one-price-goes-anywhere.

Full articles:

eSellerCafe - Royal Mail Study Finds Robust Growth In New UK Businesses Amid COVID Lockdowns

Apex - Royal Mail – 7% increase in new business formation in lockdown