Business Gateway opens doors to a record number of start-ups

ADVICE service Business Gateway has claimed a 6.3 per cent rise in the number of new firms it helped to set up across Scotland last year, defying other recent data suggesting that start-up activity remains stuck in the doldrums.

The number of start-ups established during the 12 months to March reached 11,242, up 662 on the previous year, according to the service.

The figures are the highest recorded in the eight-year history of Business Gateway - which has fallen under the responsibility of local authorities, rather than Scottish Enterprise, since 2008.

They also contrast with the latest research from the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers (CSBC) which reported that the number of firms opening business accounts fell during much of the period covered by the Business Gateway results.

The CSBC recorded 15,439 start-ups during the 12 months to the end of December, down from 15,726 the previous year. It will not publish its figures for the first quarter of this year until next month.

Broken down by region, Business Gateway services in the North-east fared particularly well, with Orkney, Shetland and Moray posting the biggest new business increases rising 78, 67 and 42 per cent respectively.

The worst-performing regions were Dunbartonshire, down 2 per cent, and Edinburgh and Lothians, down 1 per cent. The latter saw the number of start-ups assisted by the network fall to 2,217 from 2,236 previously.

Business Gateway services in Glasgow and Aberdeen held their own against the previous year as each assisted some 1,000 start-ups during the period.

In addition, Business Gateway also recorded an increase in the number of existing firms from across Scotland tapping into its services for the first time.