The number of new businesses being formed has started to rise again after two years of record falls, according to Companies House data.

The number of new companies being formed has started to rise again after two years of record falls.

New businesses registered with Companies House numbered 362,300 in the year to March 2010, up 10 per cent on the year before.

The previous two years had seen falls of 17 per cent (in 2007/8) and 11 per cent (in 2008/9) respectively, according to accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy.

Roger Williams, a partner at the firm, comments, ‘This economic crisis has caused a slump in new start-ups that was more than twice as severe as in the 1990/1 downturn.
 
‘Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs since the banking crisis started but what we are now seeing is that many of those have dusted themselves down and are starting up their own business.’

The number of new businesses created in the year to March is still 20 per cent lower than in 2006/7, when more than 450,000 companies were registered.