Working for yourself is preferred option

ALMOST half of Britain's workforce could be self-employed within five years, a new report claimed yesterday. Statistics show that 12 per cent of the UK's working population have already set up their own business and an additional 6 per cent are in the process of joining them.

Research commissioned by Vodafone UK as part of its Working Nations Series estimated that the number of people working for themselves could be swelled by a further 10 million by 2011.

It found 33 per cent of the working population are seriously considering dumping the rat-race to join the ranks of the self-employed or have already taken steps to do so.

The study also found that people are more likely to enter self-employment if they are starting a family, going through a divorce, getting married or hitting a landmark age.

But being laid off was the biggest trigger for people starting up their own business, with one in four start-ups sparked by redundancy.

Men over the age of 50 are the most likely group to be running their own business, but almost half of twenty-somethings would like to go it alone, with more women than men plotting their solo careers, the research noted.

Geographically, Brighton, Belfast, Bristol, Southampton, Plymouth and London were the entrepreneurial "hot spots", with the highest number of self-starters.

Scotland, Newcastle, and Liverpool were found to be the entrepreneurial deserts.

• The UK has more than 820,000 "demi-millionaires" worth at least 500,000 each, with the group collectively worth more than 740bn, research by Brewin Dolphin found.

More than a third of this total wealth is tied up in property.