NUMBER OF UK MICRO BUSINESSES ON THE INCREASE

A survey of 300,000 small UK companies has shown a rise in the number of people setting up micro businesses and hiring people for part-time work.

The study, undertaken by small business marketplace Freelancer.co.uk, assessed the businesses over the past 12 months and found increasing entrepreneurial activity was taking place across the country, with people just as willing to start a new business in the north as those in the south.

The study found that Brighton and Newcastle saw the highest growth with 24 per cent respectively, followed closely by Manchester and Southampton with 23 per cent.

The picture was consistent across the country, with London seeing 21 per cent growth, Edinburgh and Liverpool 20 per cent, and Birmingham and Edinburgh 19 per cent.

“This study shows that a clear picture is emerging,” Bill Little, European director for Freelancer.co.uk, says.

“Starting a micro businesses is easier than ever and is less risky with small start-up costs.

“Many of the people in this study set up businesses alongside their own jobs, hiring in freelancers for short projects to help get the business off the ground, before leaving their job to run the business full-time.

“The jobs that businesses are outsourcing are essential to setting up and growing a business, so it is not surprising that so many of these jobs are growing so quickly.

“Many of these freelancers are looking to earn extra money, as the value of real wages has decreased over the past few years.

“And as more businesses are looking to hire, people are able to plug the gap in the value of their wages by taking on extra work.”