Mums and housewives are an important source of female entrepreneurs. Non-working women are just as likely to start a business as those in work, unlike men in the same position, according to Barclays figures published today (September 3, 2003). Barclays quarterly Start-ups and Closures survey – Quarter 2 2003 reveals that 2.5 per cent of working women in England and Wales are currently in the process of starting a business, with the proportion 2.4 per cent amongst those who are not currently economically active.

In contrast, men are almost 40 per cent less likely to start a business when out of work than when they are working. Men who are out of work are more likely to be unemployed or ill, while non-economically active women include a large proportion who are voluntarily outside employment, notably mothers looking after children, as well as women taking a career break or carers. These groups may be ideally placed to identify some business opportunities for personal services businesses in areas such as niche retailing, childcare or providing household services. And it is starts of these types of businesses, in the leisure & personal services sectors, which have seen a 29% increase in the first half of 2003, compared to the first half of 2002.

Other key findings were:

• 108,000 new businesses were started between April and June 2003, an increase of 12 per cent on the equivalent period in 2002
• Closures fell one per cent to 113,000 compared to the second quarter of 2002
• 3.5 per cent of the population (aged 16-65) is in the process of starting a business
• 30 per cent of businesses are now started by women

Dr Richard Roberts, Head of SME Research at Barclays says: “While men are still more likely to start businesses than women, our figures may indicate that women who are not working are spotting opportunities which are missed by men and women in work. Because they are seeing how lifestyles are changing, they may be seeing where new opportunities are being created.”

Men are on average twice as likely to be starting a business as women, but this proportion increases to three times as likely in London and the South West and falls to less than two times in the North, Midlands and Wales.

The construction (up 42 per cent) and property & finance (up 32 per cent) sectors saw big increases in start-up activity in the first six months of 2003, despite concern about a possible slow down in the housing market. Leisure & personal services performed strongly (up 29 per cent) driven by continued increases in spending on recreation and culture and possibly also continued demand for cleaning and childcare services among employed people.

The highest proportion of business starts in the population continued to be in the South West (45 per 10,000 people) and London (41 per 10,000 people). With particular hotspots in Pembrokeshire (66 per 10,000), Torbay (63 per 10,000) and Bournemouth (61 per 10,000), the tendency is for medium sized towns with a rural hinterland to predominate. These areas may be large enough to create good business opportunities for entrepreneurs, but not big enough to draw the attention and competition of national companies. In addition, the lack of large employers means no shortage of examples of successful business owners to inspire others.

For people thinking of starting a business, a new Barclays website www.makingastart.co.uk provides a gateway to research, information and Barclays resources for start-ups. It also provides information about Start Right, a programme of free seminars across the country organised by Barclays and the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies for people starting a business to find out more about marketing, finance, legal aspects of starting a business.

Barclays, which claims that it helps more than 240 people to start a business every working day, has been providing reliable data on small business starts and closures since 1988. The information is produced by the Barclays SME Research team. Figures for the proportion of business starts by women come from research undertaken for Barclays by NOP. Barclays conducts biannual research on the rate of business formation among the UK population. This is undertaken for Barclays by BMRB and figures on business formation rates in this press release relate to the research done in April 2003.

Click here for the Barclays SME report Q2 2003 (180KB)

Click here for the Barclays SME report Q1 2003 (171KB)