Ahead of Monday's closing date for the If We Can, You Can challenge, Deborah Johnson looks at how statistics show the region is an ideal place to start a business, and meets two entrepreneurs who have done just that

THE North of England has fewer entrepreneurs than the South, but is well ahead in the success stakes, research has revealed.

While 17 per cent of men and eight per cent of women in the North are self-employed - compared with 23 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women in the South - findings from a study by three business schools has shown Northern businesspeople are more successful.

In the South, each self-employed man has an average of 2.65 people working for him, with 3.08 working for women. In the North, that figure rises to 3.53 jobs per male entrepreneur, and 3.48 for women.

Researchers from Hull University Business School, Cranfield School of Management and the University of St Andrews believe the findings help to quash concerns about a North/South divide in terms of company success, and say it clearly shows there is no reason why entrepreneurs cannot succeed in the region.

The study comes as a further endorsement of the If We Can, You Can challenge, backed by The Northern Echo, which aims to nurture emerging entrepreneurial talent - of all ages and backgrounds - and recapture a spirit of enterprise in the North- East.

Professor Andrew Burke, founding director of the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics, at Cranfield School of Management, said business start-ups marked a significant move away from the traditional belief that Southern firms were more successful than those in the North.

"There has always been a worry among policymakers that the North permanently lags behind the South in terms of economic performance," he said.

"Since entrepreneurship is usually mooted as a means through which less-developed regions can catch up, our research results are encouraging as they appear to indicate that this process is indeed taking place in the North of England."

Dr Michael Nolan, from the centre for economic policy at Hull University's Business School, said: "The findings are sufficiently different between North and South England as to require corresponding regional variation in enterprise policy, particularly regarding education and finance.

"The North/South economic divide is not merely a traditional industrial phenomenon, but a hallmark of self-employment too."