UK entrepreneurs shift focus to “future-proofing” industrial and tech sector, new data shows
UK-based formation agent company, 1st Formations, have analysed 108,851 company incorporations between 2024 and 2025, documenting potential shifts in new company incorporations.
The analysis showed a fundamental jump in the UK’s entrepreneurial landscape, revealing a hidden ‘industrial renaissance’, led by high-growth niche sectors.
Despite overall incorporations falling by seven per cent year-on-year in 2025, with traditional retail and hospitality facing greater challenges, UK entrepreneurs are increasingly launching businesses playing a role in innovation, advanced manufacturing, sustainability, and emerging technologies.
This shift helps businesses align with long-term structural demand and government-backed growth strategies.
The data shows strong year-on-year growth between 2024 and 2025 across several specialist sectors, including fishing and aquaculture (78%), the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (67%), the manufacture of rubber and plastic products (59%), and insurance, reinsurance, and pension funding (54%).
These trends point towards a ‘a new era of specialist entrepreneurship’, according to 1st Formations. This comes as founders focus on sectors that support long-term economic resilience, technological innovation, and evolving market demand.
Graeme Donnelly, Founder and CEO at 1st Formations, said: “While overall registrations have dipped, the data suggests founders are becoming increasingly strategic about where they invest their time and resources.”
“Entrepreneurs are gravitating towards sectors that support the UK’s future economy, whether that’s through strengthening supply chains, supporting sustainability goals, or developing specialist services for emerging markets. Rather than a slowdown in entrepreneurship, we’re seeing a move towards more targeted and opportunity-driven business creation,” he said.
| Specialist Sectors | Growth from 2024-2025 |
| Fishing and aquaculture | 78% |
| Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products | 67% |
| Manufacture of rubber and plastic products | 59% |
| Insurance, reinsurance, and pension funding | 54% |
The four sectors with the highest year-on-year growth between 2024 and 2025
Alongside this, the information and communication sector grew by nine per cent year-on-year, outperforming the national average of seven per cent and reinforcing its position in the UK’s startup ecosystem.
Company names containing the term AI doubled year-on-year. The analysis showed an increase from 153 in 2024 to 301 in 2025, reflecting the growing transfer towards AI focused products and branding among businesses.
This growth is further supported by government backing, with recent Budget measures focused on helping tech firms to start up, scale up, and remain in the UK through expanded funding, AI adoption programmes, and continued research and development incentives.
Graeme added: “Together, these trends highlight a dual-track evolution in UK entrepreneurship. On the one hand, there’s rapid growth in deep tech and digital innovation.
“On the other, there’s a renewed focus on foundational industries, such as fishing and chemicals, which underpin the infrastructure required for future technologies to scale,” he said.
He concluded: “With increasing numbers of entrepreneurs launching AI-driven businesses and entering specialist industrial sectors, this could mark the start of a longer trend toward the specialised startup.
“Founders are becoming more focused, more strategic, and more willing to build expertise in niche markets,” he said.
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