Figures released by Barclays which show the number of new businesses reveal that the start-up market remains robust, despite the economic recession. The number of new businesses rose from 432,300 in 2007 to 436,600 in 2008 and the total number of businesses increased by 1 per cent to just under 2.9 million firms.

There could be a number of reasons for the rise, including individuals made redundant opting for self-employment. In terms of percentage growth women outperformed in comparison to the national average and overtook men. Female-only starts ups increased by 9 per cent to more than 90,000 in 2008 compared to 83,000 in 2007. Male-only start-ups showed a slight increase of less than 1 per cent, to 300,000.

At a regional level there were contrasting fortunes, start-up activity increased by 8 per cent in Yorkshire and 6 per cent in the East Midlands. However, the number of businesses started up declined by 6 per cent in Wales and 3 per cent in the South West.

There is some indication of the development of the economy over the past year in the business sector pattern of start-ups in 2008. New property service firms fell by 13 per cent and there was an 8 per cent decline in businesses associated with construction. In contrast, start-up activity in the area of health, education and social work increased by more than 13 per cent.