WICKLOW IN TOP 10 FOR START-UPS

AN estimated 60 per cent of Wicklow SMEs say they are feeling the benefit of the economic upturn.

This comes as the county is ranked 10th in a list of top locations to start a business, this year to date.

In a survey of more than 250 business owners/managers throughout Ireland, 40 per cent said their business is still waiting to feel the positive impact of Ireland’s upturn in economic fortunes. This was one of the findings of the nationwide survey carried out by Big Red Cloud, a leading supplier of online accounting software to the Irish SME market.

Business performance following the recession and Ireland’s attitude towards the self-employed were the two main topics covered in the survey carried out by Big Red Cloud online accounts software company.

According to CEO of Big Red Cloud Marc O’Dwyer, fortunes are improving for some companies, but not all.

‘Eight per cent of SMEs have reported a change in their economic fortune for the better over the last two years. Worryingly, 40 per cent revealed that they are still struggling – though encouragingly perhaps, 20 per cent of these businesses believe they will be in a better position by the end of 2018. Perhaps the sentiment might be even more positive in Wicklow which ranked 10th in the top locations for start-ups - with the most recent VisionNet figures showing that 195 companies were formed there this year alone – 2.2 per cent of all new companies,’ he said.

He also outlined that there were between 400 and 850 companies registered in Wicklow in 2017.

‘As any SME owner will tell you getting a business up and running is just the start of a very challenging adventure. Keeping a business afloat and growing a business is a difficult task so it’s important that the structures are in place to bolster these businesses that create so much employment in every county in the country.’