The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bleaker picture for start-ups
Bank of Scotland (BoS) has found that business start-ups in Scotland have fallen in the last five years, but by less than in the UK mainland as a whole.
The BoS study revealed 3.1% fewer new businesses were started in Scotland in November compared to November 2011, the number falling to 28,222.
The UK mainland figure fell 19.2% to 443,805 new firms.
Wales saw the largest decline with the number of new start-ups falling 26.3% to 17,089 firms. The fall in England was 20.1% to 395,088 firms.
Scottish areas that saw rises included Dundee (5.3%), Angus (4%) and Fife (0.4%). Perth and Kinross showed a 1.7% fall. Orkney had the greatest increase in business start-ups at 42.2%, and South Ayrshire the biggest fall at 22.5%.
Jo Harris, BoS retail business managing director, said the downward trend was likely to be a response to the uncertain economic environment.
“However there are significant opportunities if you have the determination and drive and we will be there to support you every step of the way.”
BoS has maintained its commitment to supporting British enterprise. Last year its parent group, Lloyds Banking Group, exceeded its pledge to help 100,000 start-ups get off the ground in a drive to support small businesses.
Meanwhile, a study by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found that confidence among smaller businesses in Scotland fell again at the end of last year.
UK wide, slightly more firms expect conditions to improve than deteriorate, with the metric climbing from -2.9 points in autumn to +8.5 at year’s end.
The equivalent Scottish figure fell from -18.8 points to -28.9 points, marking 18 months of sliding privatesector sentiment.
FSB Scottish policy convener Andy Willox said: “New burdens on Scotland’s large service sector, the wider economic impact of the oil price dip, and rising overheads will all have had a role to play.”
He called for the Finance Secretary to allocate additional funds to cushion the impact of this year’s rates revaluation.