More green shoots?

Figures for new business start ups show that there were more new businesses registered for December 2008 than a year ago, and the suggestion is that people are using redundancy payouts to fund their business ideas. Just over 21,000 were registered compared with 20,000 in December 2007.

Steven Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses echoed the interview at Davos with Sir Richard Branson, saying that recession can be a time of opportunity for would-be entrepreneurs with the mass-closures on the High Street leaving niches and gaps to be filled. The growth in technology allowing people to work from home, without the additional fixed cost of paying for separate business premises, also helps, although sadly statistics still show that 3 in every 5 new small businesses will close in the first 3 years.