Q1 saw the highest new start-ups with 2,350 NI firms set up between January and March

More than 8,300 new businesses were set up in Northern Ireland last year, according to new research from R3, the insolvency and restructuring trade body.

R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that exactly 8,325 new businesses were set up in Northern Ireland in 2022, with an average of 694 per month.

Q1 saw the highest number of new start-ups registered, with 2,350 new firms set up between January and March, followed by 2,128 in Q2, 2,042 in Q3 and 1,805 in Q4.

James Neill, chair of R3 in Northern Ireland, explained: “Despite severe economic headwinds, entrepreneurialism is still flourishing in Northern Ireland, with over 8,300 new businesses being set up over the year.

“While this is great news, the first few years of a business’s life are also the most challenging, and it’s really important that directors are aware of the signs of financial distress and act on them as soon as they show themselves.”

James , who is also director and head of business advisory services at HNH, added: “If a business is having issues with cashflow, having problems paying taxes, rent or staff, or seeing stock begin to pile up, its likely to be financially distressed – and that is the time for its directors to seek advice from a qualified source.

“By doing so, they’ll have more time and more options available to them than if they’d waited for the issue to get worse.”