NEW business start-ups have a greater chance of surviving now in the North-East than they did a decade ago.
The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed that nine out of ten new companies are still trading in the region a year after they were launched - an eight per cent improvement on 1993.
Survival rates for companies in business for more than three years have improved by the same margin, the DTI statistics show.
Small Business Minister Nigel Griffiths said: "With interest rates and inflation at their lowest levels for over 40 years, the economic climate is set for them to continue growing and prospering."
But a measure of caution was raised by R3, the body representing business rescue professionals. David Buchler, R3 president and chairman of Kroll Worldwide, said: "While a four per cent decrease in failures over seven years appears positive, R3's own more recent figures show that the rate has risen back up to 41 per cent in just one year. In any event, a failure rate of between 36 and 41 per cent has to be unacceptable."
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