§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many successful high growth business start-ups there were in each of the last four years. [125922]
§ Mr. ByersIn 1999, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 12,800 successful higher growth start-up enterprises. In 1998 there were 12,600 enterprises. Estimates for earlier years cannot be made. Higher growth means enterprises achieving annual sales of El million or more, or employing 10 or more people, by their fourth year of trading.