Watford, Hertfordshire

Q1 2015 Business Confidence Report

Headlines

  • February 2015 saw a new record in company registrations in Watford when compared to any previous February.
  • January 2015 saw a new record in company registrations in Watford when compared to any previous January.
  • February 2015 saw a new record in company closures in Watford when compared to any previous February.
  • February 2015 saw a new record in net growth in Watford when compared to any previous February.
  • January 2015 saw a new record in net growth in Watford when compared to any previous January.

Contents

  1. New Company Registrations
  2. Closed Companies (dissolved)
  3. Net Company Growth
  4. UK Company Share
  5. Director Age
  6. Director Gender
  7. Naming Trends
  8. SIC Data
  9. Recent Companies

New Company Registrations

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    A total of 673 companies were registered in Watford during the first quarter of 2015 (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015).

    This figure is an increase of 54.0% versus the same period last year (Q1 2014). This figure compares well to the UK as a whole, which saw an increase of 6.9% against the same period last year.

    first quarter (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015)WatfordUK
    2015673161,156
    2014437150,722
    % change54.0%6.9%
    Record Year 2007 (706) 2007 (166,814)
    New Companies by Quarter
  2. Monthly Data (Jan, Feb & Mar 2015)

    February 2015 saw a new record in company registrations in Watford when compared to any previous February.

    January 2015 saw a new record in company registrations in Watford when compared to any previous January.

    New Companies by Month
    JanuaryFebruaryMarch
    New companies in 2015177217279
    New companies in 2014143137157
    % change23.8%58.4%77.7%
    Record Year2015 (177)2015 (217)2007 (478)

Closed Companies (dissolved)

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    A total of 321 companies were dissolved in Watford during the first quarter of 2015 (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015).

    This figure is an increase of 21.6% versus the same period last year (Q1 2014). This figure compares poorly to the UK as a whole, which saw an increase of 8.7% against the same period last year.

    first quarter (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015)WatfordUK
    201532189,523
    201426482,370
    % change21.6%8.7%
    Record Year 2009 (625) 2009 (108,066)
    Dissolved Companies by Quarter
  2. Monthly Data (Jan, Feb & Mar 2015)

    February 2015 saw a new record in company closures in Watford when compared to any previous February.

    Dissolved Companies by Month
    JanuaryFebruaryMarch
    Closed companies in 201574110137
    Closed companies in 20149110370
    % change-18.7%6.8%96%
    Record Year2009 (160)2015 (110)2009 (376)

Net Company Growth

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    Net company growth for Watford during the first quarter of 2015 (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015) was 352 companies.

    first quarter (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015)WatfordUK
    201535271,633
    201417368,352
    Record Year 2007 (564) 2007 (111,282)
    Net Growth by Quarter
  2. Monthly Data (Jan, Feb & Mar 2015)

    February 2015 saw a new record in net growth in Watford when compared to any previous February.

    January 2015 saw a new record in net growth in Watford when compared to any previous January.

    Net Growth by Month
    JanuaryFebruaryMarch
    Net growth in 2015103107142
    Net growth in 2014523487
    Record Year2015 (103)2015 (107)2007 (437)

UK Company Share

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    In the first quarter of 2015, Watford formed 0.4% of all UK companies.

    first quarter (Jan 2015 - Mar 2015)Watford
    20150.4%
    20140.3%
    20130.2%
    20120.2%
    20110.2%
    Record Year (since 1960) 2007 (0.4%)
    Company Share by Quarter
  2. Monthly Data (Jan, Feb & Mar 2015)

    Company Share by Month
    JanuaryFebruaryMarch
    UK formation share in 20150.4%0.4%0.5%
    UK formation share in 20140.3%0.3%0.3%
    % change21.4%45.9%62.0%
    Record Year1993 (0.4%)1991 (0.4%)2007 (0.7%)

Director Age

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    The average age of a director in the first quarter of 2015 was 42.6.

    The percentage of directors under the age of 25 was 4.1% compared to the UK figure of 4.1%.

    The percentage of directors over the age of 65 was 3.7% compared to the UK figure of 3.6%.

    Director Age by Quarter

Director Gender

  1. Quarterly Data (Q1 Jan-Mar 2015)

    The record first quarter for female directors in Watford was in 2011 when 27.5% of all directors were female.

    24.2% of all director appointments in Watford in the first quarter of 2015 were female. This compares to a UK average of 26.4% for the same period.

    Director Gender by Quarter

Naming Trends

  1. Previous 12 months (Mar 2014-Mar 2015)

    Excluding: LIMITED, LTD, &, UK, SERVICES, THE, (UK), AND, LTD., A, LLP, SOLUTIONS, COMPANY, OF.

    wordpercentageuk worduk percentage
    CONSULTING2.83%CONSULTING5.23%
    HEALTH2.76%MANAGEMENT4.56%
    MARKETING2.15%CONSULTANCY3.62%
    CONSULTANCY1.70%PROPERTY2.72%
    PROPERTY1.12%CONSTRUCTION2.19%
    MANAGEMENT1.03%CARE2.13%
    LONDON0.90%ENGINEERING2.12%
    WATFORD0.84%LONDON1.91%
    IT0.80%TRADING1.88%
    CARE0.71%TRANSPORT1.82%
    ELITE0.71%ELECTRICAL1.76%
    ONLINE0.67%DESIGN1.65%
    PRODUCTS0.67%PROPERTIES1.63%
    CONSTRUCTION0.64%CO.,1.58%
    BUILDING0.61%J1.55%
    DIRECT0.61%CONSULTANTS1.54%
    CONSULTANTS0.61%BUSINESS1.49%
    BUSINESS0.55%INVESTMENTS1.49%
    NUTRA0.55%GLOBAL1.46%
    M0.55%ASSOCIATES1.44%
    J0.55%DEVELOPMENTS1.36%
    GLOBAL0.51%BUILDING1.31%
    ASSOCIATES0.51%IT1.30%
    MEDIA0.48%MEDIA1.28%
    S0.45%M1.27%

SIC Data

  1. Previous 36 months, excluding companies less than 12 months old

    sic codenumber of companiesuk companies
    None Supplied741288,953
    70229 - Management consultancy activities other than financial management17943,081
    62020 - Information technology consultancy activities15630,825
    99999 - Dormant Company8649,474
    82990 - Other business support service activities not elsewhere classified8658,522
    96090 - Other service activities not elsewhere classified7329,218
    86900 - Other human health activities5213,990
    47990 - Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets466,557
    62090 - Other information technology service activities4212,862
    74990 - Non-trading company3613,794
    69201 - Accounting and auditing activities357,682
    68209 - Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate3411,600
    41202 - Construction of domestic buildings337,797
    74909 - Other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified3019,098
    62012 - Business and domestic software development309,651
    41100 - Development of building projects3011,863
    86101 - Hospital activities295,043
    70221 - Financial management283,698
    43390 - Other building completion and finishing256,052
    56290 - Other food services244,729

Recent Companies

  1. Randomly selected companies from this quarter

    COMPANY NUMBERCOMPANY NAMEINCORPORATION DATE
    09468491 THE ORIGINAL OLDSCHOOL SKI COMPANY LIMITED 03 Mar 2015
    09469407 MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS (DE) LIMITED 04 Mar 2015
    09470439 HEARTWOOD ASH LIMITED 04 Mar 2015
    09471068 GRIP AIRPORT TRAVEL LTD 04 Mar 2015
    09474548 FLS ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS LIMITED 06 Mar 2015
    09477837 S D VY LTD. 09 Mar 2015
    09482018 DAMMAN CONSULTING LIMITED 10 Mar 2015
    09484397 IPM STRATEGY & CONSULTING LIMITED 11 Mar 2015
    09486615 SPECIALIST RAIL ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS LTD 12 Mar 2015
    09488111 LIVING MUSIC LTD 13 Mar 2015
    09494804 NORLAND PROPERTY LTD 17 Mar 2015
    09496028 MDL MORTGAGES LIMITED 18 Mar 2015
    09498307 WEALTH-X SERVICES LIMITED 19 Mar 2015
    09502289 EMPIRE AMERICA LTD 20 Mar 2015
    09503099 SAMPATH SHENOY LIMITED 23 Mar 2015
    09505756 JPLMOORE LTD 24 Mar 2015
    09508164 PI HERMAN TRADING AS PETER'S LIMITED 25 Mar 2015
    09510485 PROPERTY SHARE EXCHANGE LTD 26 Mar 2015
    09515438 DBS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIMITED 28 Mar 2015
    09519257 MESD CLEANING LTD 31 Mar 2015
    09469385 JESSNAVR LIMITED 03 Mar 2015
    09479110 TIMONEY ASSOCIATES LTD 09 Mar 2015
    09480067 WARREN SOLAR LIMITED 10 Mar 2015
    09482427 FIND YOUR OFFICE LTD 10 Mar 2015
    09490952 SECURE UK SOLUTIONS LTD 16 Mar 2015