HC Deb 06 December 1985 vol 88 c368W
Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Paymaster General how many business closures have been reported to him since May 1979.

Mr. Alan Clark

In the five-year period between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1982 there have been 690,000 business closures and 830,000 business openings in the United Kingdom. These figures are derived from registrations and deregistrations for VAT.

Detailed figures were published in the 23 August 1985 edition of British Business, a copy of which is in the Library. As the article explains, the estimates are subject to revision as more information is received.