A TOTAL of 32,312 new companies were formed in the West Midlands last year - down more than 1,000 on the previous 12 months.

The fall of just over three per cent has been revealed by national corporate services firm, Jordans.

"New enterprises were formed in the West Midlands at a rate equivalent to 2,700 a month," said Paul Townsend, director of corporate services at Jordans, which specialises in company formations and business information.

"The fall is not that significant, so it still seems to indicate a general underlying confidence in the economy and a refusal to be put off by the increasingly gloomy economic forecasts.

"Although there is a view that we have yet to see the full extent of the economic downturn, there appears to be no shortage of people in the region prepared to take the plunge and launch their own business."

The Jordans research covered the B, CV, DY, HR, ST, TF, WR, WS and WV postcode areas.

Although slightly down on last year's total of almost 20,000, Birmingham, unsurprisingly, remains the region's company formation "powerhouse" and there was a rise of nearly 800 new businesses created in the Coventry area, taking the total there to 4,903.

"Many of the new companies involve managed service companies having to change to limited liability companies following changes in tax rules last year but there is no doubt the Treasury remains the main driver for our company formations service, by effectively encouraging entrepreneurs to form companies rather than continue to act as sole traders," said Mr Townsend.

Throughout England, Scotland and Wales, Jordans' survey showed a year-on-year increase of nearly 15 per cent in company formations, from 386,156 to 443,725.