New business start-ups to rise by 20%

THE number of new business start-ups is set to rise by nearly 20% this year, according to research by Bank of Ireland Business Banking.

Irish entrepreneurs are setting up nearly 400 new businesses every week and the total of new ventures will exceed 20,000 this year, compared with 17,000 last year.

A recent survey by the Global Economic Monitor, an international research group that covers more than 40 countries, put Ireland at the top of the table for entrepreneurial activity and estimated that one in 12 of the workforce was involved in start-up business. Most new Irish businesses focus on the services sector.