THERE are hundreds more small businesses in St Helens than there were before the pandemic, data has revealed.

New research from Iwoca, one of Europe's largest small business lenders, indicates that in 2023, St Helens had a total of 4,735 small and medium-sized businesses (SME), surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

The data, compiled from ONS business and employment figures, ranks St Helens as 51st in terms of small business increases across the country, with the borough experiencing a 5.81 percent increase from the 4,475 small businesses that were operating in 2019.

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Despite the challenges of covid and the cost of living crisis, and the wider high street difficulties which has seen many big name brands leaving St Helens town centre in recent years, this is encouraging news as the borough is ranked sixth for small business increases across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire.

The research shows that the main industries with an increase in small businesses in St Helens have been motor vehicle trade and repair, construction, and transportation and storage.

The data also shows that in the SME industry, which is classed as a business having fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than €50 million, there was a 6.77 percent increase in jobs in St Helens, between 2019 and 2022.

Ranking St Helens as 41st across the country in this category, the data shows that there were 4,310 more jobs in the small business industry in the three year period, with the number of jobs increasing from 63,645 to 67,955.

With an increase of start-up businesses and online deliveries since the pandemic, the North West as a whole has seen the number of SMEs rebound to pre-pandemic levels, with 197,735 operating in the region in 2023 - a 0.21 percent increase from 2019’s total of 197,320.

Seema Desai, COO at Iwoca said: “The North of England continues to prove its immense economic capacity and resilience despite the blow that the Covid-19 pandemic delivered to small businesses across the country."