Record high for Scottish Business start-ups
29th December 2014
Minister announces 23.9% rise.
Registered business start-ups are at a record high in Scotland with a 23.9% increase in 2013, Business Minister Fergus Ewing announced today.
Alongside this the total number of registered businesses in Scotland has grown by 4% over the latest year (2014) and by 10% since 2007. This growth in the registered business stock has been driven be a rise in the number of small registered businesses.
Between 2013 and 2014, all local authority areas saw an increase in the number of small registered businesses. The City of Edinburgh local authority area experienced the greatest increase with a rise of 880 small businesses between 2013 and 2014 - followed by the Glasgow City local authority area with an increase of 755 small businesses.
Small businesses account for a larger share of private sector employment in rural local authority areas, compared to urban local authority areas. As at March 2014, small businesses accounted for 71.7% of private sector employment in the Orkney Islands local authority area compared to 24.4% in the Aberdeen City local authority area.
The industry sectors experiencing the largest relative increases in small registered businesses between 2013 and 2014 were:
• Administrative and support service activities - up 930 small businesses, 9.9%
• Professional, scientific and technical activities – up 2,600 small businesses, 9.6%
• Information and communication – up 520 small businesses, 6.6%
• Real estate activities – up 275 small businesses, 5.8%
Earlier this month Mr Ewing marked Small Business Saturday (Saturday, Dec 6) by kick-starting his Christmas shopping at local business, Jasmine, in the West End of Glasgow, where he urged shoppers to ‘think local' to keep communities alive.
Despite announcements made during the Autumn Statement, Scotland retains the most competitive business tax environment in the UK, with a package of rate reliefs worth around £618 million for 2015-16. Recent statistics show that our Small Business Bonus Scheme alone has removed or reduced taxation for over 96,000 premises this year. This demonstrates an increase of 4% from last year and 50% since introduction in 2008-09.
Mr Ewing said:"The number of registered business start-ups in Scotland increased by 23.9% from 17,385 to 21,540 between 2012 and 2013; this takes us to the highest level in the series back to 2004
“Supporting your local economy is an important way to keep communities alive – and we are absolutely committed to creating a thriving network of local communities all over Scotland.
“It’s encouraging to see a continued increase in business start-ups in Scotland. And we want to see that growth: the Scottish Government offers a range of support for small and medium enterprises, starting with Business Gateway and our enterprise agencies.
“Two in five premises have benefitted from the Small Business Bonus Scheme this year, and our nearly 329,000 small businesses in Scotland provides 42% of private sector jobs, so it is hugely important. Our Town Centre Action Plan aims to engage with wider public, private and community sectors to make town centres vibrant places to live, socialise and do business in.
“So as we approach the New Year sales period, I ask you to look local – be it for gifts or for locally sourced food and drink – to support your local shops and community so that 2015 is an even better year for Scotland’s local businesses."
