Regeneration: Duport says major developments like Barking Riverside, pictured, are driving the business boom

Business entrepreneurs have defied the recession by launching a record number of companies in Barking and Dagenham this year, figures reveal.

Companies House statistics suggest that new business is booming in the east London borough, with 483 new firms set up between January and June 2012.

The number of business start-ups is the highest since records began in 1856 and rose 16 per cent on last year, the figures show.

Business start-up company Duport, which collated the figures, indicated that major regeneration projects such as the 10,000-home development near the Thames called Barking Riverside could usher in a new era of prosperity in the borough.

Duport managing director, Peter Valaitis, said: “Dagenham is an extremely dynamic area that is already feeling the benefit of the Thames Gateway regeneration project.

“Business start-ups in this area should be able to look forward to a prosperous future.

“It’s hardly surprising that a record number of new companies have sprung up in Dagenham this year - the area looks set for a very exciting future.”

Duport said that Barking and Dagenham was “at the centre” of the Thames Gateway regeneration project, the biggest in Europe.

A company spokesman said that over the next 15 years up to 17,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs were to be delivered in the borough.

The encouraging news came as government statistics published in June showed the Barking and Dagenham jobless claimant count had fallen to its lowest level for nearly a year.

The figures showed the number of people on the dole dropped to 7,215 in May in the borough, the biggest fall since July 2011.

The Companies House statistics showed the number of start-ups rose by 16 per cent from 414 in the first half of 2011 to 483 between January and June 2012.

This compared to a 13 per cent increase in London from 55,655 to 63,120 and a 10 per cent increase in the UK from 228,735 to 253,150.