Bumper year for Business Start Ups expected - Over 10,000 new Irish businesses since January 2006

Highlights:

Bank of Ireland Business Banking today (11 July 2006) issued its latest Business Start up Barometer that tracks the number of business start-ups in Ireland. The Barometer shows a bumper year for business start-ups as, in the first half of this year, over 10,000 new companies have been established.

Dublin is the top location for company formations with 3,586 companies set up in the county this year. This is followed by Cork where 772 companies were formed and Galway with 507 company formations. Limerick and Meath also rated highly in the analysis with 360 and 214 companies established this year. Interestingly, activity in Westmeath and Laois is up as both counties are making their first appearances on the top 20 locations list with 81 and 77 start-ups respectively.

On a sectoral basis, the highest number of companies formed were those in the construction and civil engineering sector with 1,288 companies established. This was followed closely by real estate and property management companies which accounted for 654 and 637 company formations. 462 Business and Management Consultancy Services companies were set up whilst 311 software consultancy and supply companies were also formed.

Some further analysis carried out by the Bank of Ireland shows that 47,521 companies have filed their Annual Returns so far this year. This represents just over 75% of the total required by the Companies Registration Office and a further 15,000 companies who were supposed to file have not yet done so to date. A range of fines and penalties apply for Companies who fail to complete their return within the given time frame.


Commenting on the Barometer figures, Dermot Nolan, Head of Business Marketing, Bank of Ireland said: 'It is great for Ireland that there is continued activity in the start up market driven by continued consumer demand, economic growth and high levels of entrepreneurship throughout the country. Some new business owners are planning to use part or all of their SSIA savings to get their business off the ground, which will also boost growth in this segment. As with all new ventures, it is important that compliance matters are fully dealt with and that issues of annual filing returns, company accounts and legislation are fully investigated before the new business is launched.'

Using statistics compiled by Vision-Net.i.e, the Barometer tracks the number of companies formed on a sectoral and geographical basis.

For reference;
Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Bank of Ireland Group
Tel: 01 6043836 / 087 2460358

Dermot Nolan
Head of Business Marketing
Bank of Ireland Business Banking
Tel: 01 604 3349

About Bank of Ireland Business Banking
Bank of Ireland is the number one Bank for business in Ireland with dedicated business managers available through each of its 270 strong nationwide branch network.

The Bank of Ireland business offer encompasses the full range of day-to-day business banking services as well as specialist Treasury, Commercial Finance, Credit card, Life Assurance planning services and Venture Capital. Over 60,000 customers have registered for its "Business On Line" service.

Editors Note
The Bank of Ireland Business Banking start-up package incorporates a number of offers and advice for new customers from ACCA, ISME, SFA, 02,Golden Pages, Big Red Book, Oaktree Press and Hewlett Packard.

There are three key components of the Business Start-Up Package