Record number of businesses are started in the UK

More businesses are being started in the UK than ever before, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

351,000 businesses were started in 2014, representing a 1% rise over the previous year. This was the highest figure for new start-ups since the ONS began keeping these records in 2000.

According to Lisa Mayers, sales manager at SME finance provider Ashley Business Finance, there were a number factors fuelling ‘a new age of entrepreneurship’. She said that waves of redundancies during the downturn and the prominence of celebrity entrepreneurs had acted as a spur for people to start their own businesses and that advances in IT have made it easier for people to go it alone.

While record number of businesses started however, a significant number failed during the same time period, with 246,000 businesses closing down in 2014. If your business is struggling you should consult a business recovery practitioner to help assess what solutions might be available.

The government’s Business Population Estimates report, which was published in October, backs up the view of a new entrepreneurial Britain. At the start of 2015 there were a record 5.4 million private sector businesses. This represents a further increase of 146,000 from 2014 and an increase of 1.9 million – or more than a third – since 2000.

According to the report, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up more than 99% of all UK businesses and generate an overall turnover of around £1.8 trillion for the economy. This was 47% of all private sector turnover in the UK.

Medium sized businesses had grown, with an increase of more than a thousand businesses employing between 50 and 249 staff in 2015 compared to the previous year. A rise in the number of sole traders was also noted as there are now 3.3million sole proprietors, 1.6 million companies and 436,000 partnerships in operation.

By Phil Smith

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