Ember research reports millennials are the UK’s leading entrepreneurs

By Joy Dumasia

Ember, the cloud accounting company, has published new research which revealed that half of the UK’s latest entrepreneurs are Millennials. The study found that people between the ages of 25 and 40 have set up 49% of new businesses since July 2020.

That is the most significant proportion in the UK, ahead of those in Generation X – currently aged between 41 and 56 – which accounts for 33% of the UK’s newest entrepreneurs. People aged between 57 and 75 years old – have set up 9.6% of new businesses, while 16-24 year-olds, AKA Generation Z, are responsible for 7.8% of new companies.

Ember analysed more than 400,000 records from Companies House over the past 11 months to discover the common traits among the UK’s latest business owners. Millennials set up more than 227,000 businesses. With approximately 14.2 million people in the UK born between 1981 and 1996, that means that 1.6% of Millennials have started a business in the past 11 months – the highest percentage in the UK. For Gen X, 1.09% of the 14 million people born between 1965 and 1980 have started a business.

The most popular type of business created in the past year has been e-commerce, with the study finding more than 26,000 new companies registered as “Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet”.

The second most popular type of new business is defined as “Management consultancy activities other than financial management”, which saw more than 14,000 new providers.

Commenting on the study, Ember co-founder Daniel Hogan said: “It’s fascinating to see the trends and themes that emerge when we look at the UK’s newest entrepreneurs. The country has had to adapt to massive changes over the past year, so despite the uncertainty, it’s inspiring to see so many people taking the initiative to set up their own business.”