On Monday 30th November the Office for National Statistics announced the latest results of enterprise births, deaths and survival in the UK for 2008. The figures highlight some of the early impacts the recession has had on the business landscape and indicate those sectors that suffered most throughout the downturn.
Not surprisingly, the results show there was a 3.7% decrease in the level of business births in 2008 in comparison to 2007 ( 270,000 and 281,000 respectively).What is interesting, however, is that there were fewer business deaths in 2008 compared to 2007 (219,000 from 223,000) which represents a 1.8 percent decrease. From an industry perspective, some industries faired better than others with business administration and support services having the highest level of business births in 2008. The hardest hit industries were within the accommodation and food sector, finance and insurance and construction sectors particularly suffering with 33,000 businesses closing across the UK.
The results reflect the economic climate of the time, where certain industries suffered throughout the gruelling year that was 2008. While there is evidence that the recession may be drawing to a close, British people continue to remain cautious about setting up businesses with just 14% of British people surveyed believing that now is a better time to start a business than a year ago.
While these figures do reflect the risks of running a business during a recession there is evidence that
enterprises set up during a recession tend to be exceptionally resilient. For
businesses to survive through a challenging economic climate, it is essential to manage finances correctly, be fully aware of what is going on in the industry and be present where the customer is, which increasingly is online. You can see our
previous blog for top tips for prospective entrepreneurs. With over a
third of Brits keen to start their own business we can hope to see a boom in business births come 2010.