Record low number of businesses created in Ashfield in final quarter of 2024

An organisation representing company directors warned the falling trend is ‘concerning’, and called on the Government ‘to ease the significant pressures on business’.

It comes a few days after leading economic forecasters predicted the UK economy will improve more slowly than anticipated this year, downgrading Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ hopes to rapidly boost growth.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 60 new businesses were created in Ashfield in the three months to December.

It was down from 70 over the same period the year before, and the lowest figure of any quarter since records began in 2017.

Across the UK, some 13 of the 16 main industrial groups saw a fall in the number of businesses created over the past year.

The most significant falls came from was in the transport and storage industry, followed by the business administration and support service industry.

But separate figures from NatWest show there were around 5.6m active businesses in the UK as of the end of 2024, the highest figure on record.

Anna Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said the drop in business births is "concerning", and called on the Government to alleviate financial and recruiting pressures on businesses.

Ms Leach said a swift decline in business confidence, the rise in the minimum wage and reforms to employment law ‘seem to have cooled business dynamism in the UK’.

She warned business leaders feel ‘the attractiveness of the UK as a business location has weakened further since the Budget’.

Ms Leach said: "Our most recent polling shows that addressing the tax burden on business is crucial for lifting business confidence, followed by a scaling back of employment regulations and improving the UK’s EU trading relationship.

"While the recent shift in the Government’s rhetoric to emphasise growth is welcome, it is clear that the breadth and scale of cost increases announced at the Budget will continue to dampen entrepreneurial activity and economic growth.

"Until the Government seeks opportunities to ease the significant pressures on business, there’s a very real risk that the job of lifting the UK’s potential growth is made harder."

Pranesh Narayanan, research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said both business births and deaths must increase to support economic growth.

Mr Narayanan added: "Struggling public services and historically low levels of investment are holding businesses back.

"The Government has started to take steps in the right direction, such as recent announcements on infrastructure development, which should help innovators.

"But, to go further, they should make sure that the upcoming industrial strategy prioritises support for new companies, and a level playing field for them to compete against existing large players."

Meanwhile, 70 businesses closed in Ashfield between October and December – down from 125 across the same period the previous year.

Across the UK, 69,435 businesses closed in the three months to December.

A Government spokesperson said: "We’re backing British business through our Plan for Change, which includes tackling the scourge of late payments and introducing a fairer business rates system which incentivises investment.

"We will be publishing our plan to help small businesses start up and grow later this year."