New business start-up numbers up defying "credit crunch" reports

New research from Barclays suggests that entrepreneurs are far from being discouraged by reports of an economic slowdown, with an estimated 98,000 new start-ups formed in the first three months of 2008.

Although this number is not as high as the record-breaking business formation figures seen in 2006 and early 2007, the first quarter of 2008 had the highest number of start-ups in the last three quarters.

It should be noted that the number of new businesses formed, and the number closed, was roughly the same in Q1 2008, but previous quarters saw much greater number of closures - in the last quarter of 2007, there were 86,4000 start-ups, and 111,900 closures for example.

According to the statistics, the most popular industries for start-ups were business and financial services (27,500 start-ups), construction (15,100) and the retail sector (10,700).

John Davis, Marketing Director for Local Business at Barclays, said: “Small business entrepreneurs are finding opportunities in the market place. They are entering in reduced numbers, reflecting an uncertainty over short-term economic prospects, but clearly there’s a feeling there is never a bad time to start a good business.

“We do anticipate further modest reductions in both start-ups and closures during the remainder of the year, set against the high numbers in recent years.”

Start-up and Closure Data for 2007-8

Q1 2007 - 114,500 Start-ups, 136,200 Closures
Q2 2007 - 126,700 Start-ups, 124,400 Closures
Q3 2007 - 97,700 Start-ups, 120,100 Closures
Q4 2007 - 86,400 Start-ups, 111,900 Closures

Q1 2008 - 98,200 Start-ups, 99,900 Closures