North East entrepreneurs make “fast start” to 2023 with 1,400 new January startups

North East entrepreneurs have made a fast start to 2023 after setting up almost 1,400 new businesses in the first month of the year.

According to analysis by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 of new data provided by CreditSafe, there were 1,396 new businesses set up in the North East during January, which is the highest monthly regional figure in the last six months.

The January number is over 50 per cent up on the December 2022 figure (928), while it is also 15 per cent ahead of the number of start-ups registered in January last year (1,213).

The number of insolvency-related activities registered last month across the North East, which includes liquidator appointments, administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings, fell slightly from the December 2022 figure (61 to 59), although there has been a 16 per cent year-on-year rise from the number registered in January last year (51).

R3’s analysis of the CreditSafe data also found that North East businesses had more than 157,875 invoices on their books in January that had gone past their payment deadline without the money being received, while almost 12,300 regional firms had invoices outstanding that should already have been settled.

North East chair of R3, Chris Ferguson, who is head of recovery & insolvency at Gosforth based RMT Accountants & Business Advisors, commented: “The start of a new year can often be a catalyst for people to draw a line under the past and start a new business, whether they’re a first-time founder or an experienced entrepreneur.

“It’s encouraging to see this trend continuing, and especially to see a double-digit percentage rise in the number of new start-ups last month compared to January last year, but it shouldn’t mask the significant challenges that anyone running their own business will face this year.

“The 16 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of North East firms experiencing insolvency-related issues reflects the difficult economic situation in which we currently find ourselves, while the substantial number of overdue invoice on regional firms’ books is a real concern.

“Being unable to pay your bills on time is one of the key indicators of business distress, while struggling to get monies owed from customers is often a major contributory factor to the failure of many otherwise-viable businesses.

“North East business owners and directors should make maintaining full and close oversight of their businesses’ financial position a real priority for 2023, especially in terms of their cashflow and creditors, and they need to be ready to act on any financial concerns that they see arising.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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