Scotland 'has Britain's highest proportion of entrepreneurs aged over 55', GoDaddy study finds

Scotland has more entrepreneurs over the age of 55 than anywhere else in Britain, and the highest proportion of female business-owners, according to a new study.

The Venture Forward study has seen website-building specialist GoDaddy – build a professional website,partner with George Saridakis, professor of entrepreneurship and small business at Kent Business School, to analyse the impact of 2.3 million businesses on their communities and the country.

The report found that nearly a quarter of business-owners in Scotland are aged at least 55, well ahead of the national average of 18 per cent, and the proportion of female entrepreneurs is 40 per cent compared to 34 per cent across Britain.

Furthermore, emerging as the constituencies north of the Border with the highest “venture densities” were Glasgow Central (1.79 per cent) and Edinburgh North & Leith (1.66 per cent). Both rank among the top 50 constituencies nationwide.

Conversely, three constituencies from Scotland fall within the lowest ten areas by venture density nationwide, including Angus (0.23 per cent), Glenrothes (0.23 per cent) and West Dunbartonshire (0.23 per cent). Additionally, 12 per cent of all entrepreneurs from Scotland come from disadvantaged backgrounds, the study said.

GoDaddy said that following the launch of the Venture Forward dataset, it has committed to sharing its research findings with national and regional policymakers amid its bid to improve knowledge of the microbusiness landscape, and to help create opportunities for owners of such firms across the country.

Ben Law, head of GoDaddy UK, said: “There are around 356,000 microbusinesses in Scotland, but very few studies focus specifically on companies with under ten employees.

The report found that nearly a quarter of business-owners in Scotland are aged at least 55, and the proportion of female entrepreneurs is 40 per cent, both higher than the Britain-wide average. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto.

“As a result, microbusinesses are under-researched, misunderstood and under-served. With the right policy infrastructures in place, microbusinesses have the power to contribute to levelling-up disadvantaged areas.

“Our research shows that nearly half of all microbusinesses in Scotland turn over more than £25,000 a year and over nine in ten employ at least one other person. Put simply, the more microbusinesses there are in a community, the better the job prospects and finances of the people that live there.”

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