Business start-ups at lowest level in six years

THE past year has seen a dramatic drop in the number of company start-ups, reaching its lowest level since 2002.

The number of businesses opening in Ireland dropped by more than a third in 2008 to 13,780, compared with 18,800 in 2007.

The figure compares with highs of about 19,000 new businesses annually during the boom years of 2005 and 2006 when banks had more lenient lending practices. The drop has been particularly dramatic since October when the Government announced the bank guarantee scheme, which Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said would free up funding and loans for small and medium sized businesses.