THE number of businesses starting up in Scotland in the fourth quarter of 2014 was down on the preceding three months but up on the same period of 2013, the latest figures for bank account openings show.
And the number of business start-ups north of the Border in 2014 as a whole was up marginally on 2013, on this measure of the birth rate.
The Committee of Scottish Bankers' latest statistics show that 2,539 business start-ups based north of the Border were recorded during the final three months of last year.
This was down by 6.9 per cent from 2,728 in the third quarter of last year. However, it was up by three per cent on the figure of 2,465 for the final three months of 2013.
The Committee of Scottish Bankers said the number of business start-ups in 2014 totalled 11,772 on its account-opening measure, up by 0.8 per cent on 2013.
Its statistics are based on account openings with Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, TSB Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The figures show the number of sole traders starting up in the fourth quarter of 2014 was up sharply on the same period of 2013, at 946 against 690. The number of company start-ups was lower, at 1,459 compared with 1,605. The number of partnerships starting up came in at 134 in the final quarter of 2014, down from 170 in the final three months of 2013.
The number of business start-ups in the hotel and restaurant category was only 202 in the final quarter of last year, down from 272 in the preceding three months and from 276 in the last three months of 2013.
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