§ 62. Mr. Colvinasked the Paymaster General what was the number of small businesses established in the last 12-month period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierThere were around 180,000 business start-ups in 1984, based on the number of VAT registrations. Estimates for 1985 are not yet available, but early indications are that there was a broadly similar number of start-ups in 1985.
The starting of over 1 million new businesses in the six years to the end of 1985 is encouraging, but there are no grounds for complacency, since the numbers which cease to trade are also high.