Business start-ups are down in the UK

Official figures show that there were four per cent less new businesses starting up in the UK last year. The number was 270,000.

However, the rate of business closures was only two per cent worse, to 219,000, in spite of the credit crunch and then the recession.

Most new businesses were set up in professional, scientific and technical ventures, which saw 54,000 new businesses. The highest closure rate was in construction, which lost 33,000 businesses.

Late payments slow down

Meanwhile, the late payment of bills eased to 21 days in October, according to Experian, the business information company. This is two days better than the 23 days of October 2008, and the quickest rate since April 2008. The biggest improvement came from large companies, down to 23.4 days on average, and the area seeing the best improvement was the South West.