Middlesbrough has recorded the North East’s highest proportion of under-25 directors appointed to newly incorporated companies, according to analysis of Companies House data covering almost half a million new UK businesses.
Research commissioned by Virtual HQ found that 199 of the 1,593 directors appointed when new Middlesbrough companies were incorporated between August 2025 and July 2026 were under 25.
That gives the town a 12.5% share, compared with a UK-wide figure of 8.7%. Middlesbrough ranked first among the 12 North East local authorities examined and joint eighth across the UK. The median age of directors appointed to its new companies was 35, four years below the national median.
The rest of the regional top three is also in the Tees Valley. Darlington recorded 114 under-25 directors among 1,003 appointments, equivalent to 11.4%, while Hartlepool recorded 70 among 642, or 10.9%.
Gateshead followed at 8.8%, with 125 under-25 directors among 1,415 appointments. Newcastle upon Tyne recorded 8.7%, alongside one of the region’s largest volumes of business formation, with 2,218 companies incorporated during the period.
The study analysed 474,121 companies incorporated across the UK during the 12 months to July and 583,861 directors appointed when those businesses were formed. It then compared the proportion of appointments falling into younger and older age groups across 360 local authorities.
The figures measure directors appointed at incorporation rather than confirmed company founders. A newly formed business can have several directors, and an individual appearing on an incorporation record may not necessarily have created or own the company.
Even with that distinction, the results show a pronounced concentration of younger appointments across Middlesbrough, Darlington and Hartlepool. Four of the 12 North East authorities included in the study recorded an above-average proportion of directors under 25, while three ranked among the UK’s top 50.
North Tyneside sat at the other end of the regional table, with 85 of its 1,333 newly appointed directors aged under 25. Its 6.4% share was the lowest in the North East.
The age profile also varies at the older end of the market. Northumberland recorded the region’s highest proportion of newly appointed directors aged over 60, at 9.6%, compared with a national figure of 5.9%. South Tyneside followed at 6%, with County Durham at 5.4%.
Virtual HQ Managing Director Andrew Manning said the speed and low cost of forming a limited company had reduced barriers for people starting businesses earlier in their careers.
He also highlighted the information that becomes public when a company is incorporated. Companies House requires directors to provide a service address and a residential address. The service address appears on the public register, while the residential address is normally protected from public view.
The sector breakdown shows further differences in the age of newly appointed directors. Wholesale and retail trade accounted for 91,794 of the new companies included in the research and recorded a median director age of 35. Some 14.2% of directors appointed in the sector were under 25.
Other service activities followed with 10.3% of appointments under 25, while information and communication recorded 10.2%.
Company formation does not establish how many of those businesses will survive, employ people or grow, and incorporation volumes should not be treated as a direct measure of economic performance. The data does, however, show where younger people are entering formal company structures.
On that measure, the Tees Valley stands out within the North East, with Middlesbrough, Darlington and Hartlepool occupying the first three places in the regional ranking.
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