BUCKS has officially been confirmed as the entrepreneurial heart of Britain after data released by the Office of National Statistics this week showed that the county has the highest new firm formation rate of any county council area in 2010.
There were 2,790 business births in Bucks last year, a 1.5 per cent increase over 2009.
Of the Buckinghamshire firms formed in 2009, 90.2 per cent survived into 2010.
Meanwhile, 77.6 per cent of two-year-old firms survived, and 68.1 per cent of businesses formed in 2007 were still trading.
Bucks’ entrepreneurial performance compared well to the UK as a whole, with the county’s new firm formation rate 50.5 per cent higher than the national rate.
Although Bucks districts created fewer firms last year than seven years ago, the rate of decline in this area has been less severe than across the country as a whole.
Rupert Waters, research manager at economic pressure group Buckinghamshire Business First, said: “These statistics confirm Buckinghamshire’s position as the ‘entrepreneurial heart of Britain’ and this is something the county can be very proud of, especially in these difficult economic times.
“Buckinghamshire Business First will continue to make Buckinghamshire the place to do business and create the conditions for business to thrive and survive in our entrepreneurial county.”
Buckinghamshire Business First was launched in April 2011 and is backed by hundreds of firms and by local councils.