Between December 2014 and June 2015, the number of company dissolutions was lower than in the previous six months, according to the Barclays and BGF Entrepreneurs Index.
This is the first time this has happened since the Index began in 2012, reversing a three-year trend.
Overall, there were 170,359 dissolutions, compared to 193,699 between June and December 2014.
The number of active companies in the UK increased to 3,260,879 in June 2015, up from 3,139,630 in December 2014, the biggest uplift since the Index began tracking the data.
Dena Brumpton, UK head of wealth management at Barclays says, ‘The dip in the number of companies that are dissolving is testament to the growth in business confidence we have seen in recent years, allowing UK businesses not just to start up, but to succeed.
‘These results are particularly encouraging as the business landscape in the UK is changing, with a relatively small number of small and medium-sized enterprises delivering a significant impact on economic growth, employment and wealth creation.’
Brumpton adds that since 2012, the appetite for creating new businesses has grown exponentially, due to a number of factors, from an improving economy to the rise of entrepreneurs over the age of 50.
The research also indicates a healthy investment scene, with the number of deals resulting in wealth creation of at least £200,000 rising by 5 per cent in the 12 months to June 2015, to 1,541.
While the UK start-up and exit scenes remain buoyant, the latest findings show that, in a continuation of the trend noted in the last Entrepreneurs Index, the proportion of high-growth companies fell in the year to December 2014.
The number of companies within revenue bands of £2.5 million and £100 million stood at 20.8 per cent in the year to December 2014, down from 21.5 per cent in the previous year.
There were some exceptions to this trend however, with the construction, retail and property sectors seeing the proportion of high-growth companies rise for the third consecutive year, driven by the strong wider growth of these sectors.
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