This article is from page 17 of the 2006-07-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THERE was good news for businesses in Clare this week with figures released by Bank of Ireland showing that 130 new startup enterprises were established in the county in the first 6 months of this year.
This ranks Clare as the twelfth most suc cessful county in the Republic in terms of new business start-ups, with Dublin the most successful location. More than 3,500 new businesses were established in the capital in the first half of 2006 with Cork in second place, at 700 new companies.
The new figures have been welcomed by the CEO of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, Rita McInerney, who pointed to a loosening up in the attitudes of the banks as one of the key factors for the increase in start-up businesses.
“It is good news and it reflects the range of packages that banks have on offer these days,” said Ms McInerney. “There is so much more competition is the banking sector these days and this is a great help for start up businesses.
“Something like 97 per cent of businesses in Ireland are small businesses and the first place that these people go to for capital is to the bank,” continued Ms McInerney. “These businesses are not going to relocate and will stand the test of time in Ireland.”
Galway and Limerick featured highly on the list with 507 and 360 new businesses established respectively. This placed them as the third and fifth most successful counties for generating new business opportunities.
Nationally there has been in excess of 10,000 new Irish businesses set up since January of this year. The construction and civil engineering sector is the most popular area for business start ups with a total of 1,288 being set up.
Real estate and property management companies accounted for 654 and 637 company formations respectively.
“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,” said Dermot Nolan, Head of Business Marketing, Bank of Ireland.
“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.”