Newly released figures show that more new businesses were registered in Merseyside during 2016 than in any previous year.
A total of 10,617 new businesses were registered in Merseyside compared to 9,857 in 2015.
Those new registrations took the total number of businesses up to 60,027, an increase of 5.5% from 2015 when the figure stood at 56,875.
Liverpool formed the most new businesses, with 4,962 starting in 2016, with Wirral in second (2,250) and Sefton in third (1,810).
John Korchak, Director of Operations at Inform Direct said: “These figures underline the positive entrepreneurial culture that fosters new company formations and drives economic growth.
“So far, at least, we’re not seeing evidence that the Brexit vote has dented confidence among those considering starting up in business.
“Merseyside again delivered an impressive number of new companies in 2016, demonstrating that it offers a fertile environment for new businesses to spring up and prosper.”