Mon, 8 Dec 2008
Financially-savvy firms set to survive as projections show 380,000 businesses will open in 2008.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are "better financially prepared" to ride out rough economic conditions than they have been in the past - and the sector is already showing early signs of recovery, it has been claimed.
Nic Bayley, head of product for Barclays local business, said the current situation for entrepreneurs is "fundamentally different" from the 1993 recession, as today's small businesses have mostly kept their borrowing in check and are not navigating the economic storm weighed down by excessive debt.
He added that according to Barclays' forecasts, the slowdown in new start-ups will have bottomed-out by the end of the year, while business closures are expected to level-off in the near future.
The bank predicts it will see the "first real signs of a pick-up in SME numbers" in 2010.
Commenting on the projections, George Derbyshire, chief executive of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, said: "These encouraging figures released at our conference today show the spirit of enterprise is alive and well in the UK."
According to 2007 statistics from Barclays Bank, there were 471,500 new business start-ups in the UK, a record high.
This year, the bank is predicting that 380,000 new enterprises will start trading.
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