New East Lancashire businesses boom in recession

The organisation, which supports existing and potential entrepreneurs, says the number of people in the county taking the first steps to starting a business has more than doubled in the past three months, since the Lancashire Telegraph launched our We’re Backing Business campaign.

The Telegraph has teamed up with Busin-ess Link to get firms the expert advice they need to ride out the recession.

From the start of April until the end of June, Business Link Northwest engaged with 198 pre-start companies in East Lancashire, compared with 95 for the same period last year, an increase of 108 per cent.

Rossendale leads the way with the number of people consid-ering starting out on their own tripling, followed by the Ribble Valley with a 160 per cent rise, Burnley up 108 per cent and Hyndburn, where prospective start ups have doubled.

Donna Edwards, operations director at Business Link Northwest, said the figures were encouraging given the current trading conditions: “They show that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in East Lanca-shire and while unemployment figures paint a gloomy overall picture, many people are turning losing their job into a more positive experience by exploring the option of becoming an entrepreneur.”

Business Link North-west supports potent-ial, as well as existing, entrepreneurs.

Business Link’s Dennis Poole said 90 per cent of calls were from people thinking of starting a business or have recently started.

He said: “When an individual makes cont-act, an adviser will talk them through their idea and find out as much information as possible about their background.

“This helps us to determine the type of support they require and what the next steps should be as there is a network of support out there funded by the Northwest Regional Develop-ment Agency (NWDA), local authorities and the private sector.”

For more information, visit the Business Link website start up section below.