THE number of business start ups in Scotland in the second quarter was in line with the same period last year but up on the preceding period, banking records have shown.
The Committee of Scottish Bankers recorded 3,159 start ups in the three months to 30 June, down 0.6 per cent on the 3,179 logged in the second quarter of 2014.
Start up numbers in the latest period were up 4.2 per cent from 3,032 noted in the preceding months.
The figures are based on the number of businesses opening accounts with banks that belong to the committee. These are Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, TSB and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
The numbers do not include businesses that open accounts with other lenders including HSBC, Barclays and Santander.
The continued economic recovery does not seem to have had much impact on start up activity.
The number of new hotel and restaurant businesses fell to 274, from 306 in the first quarter. There were 289 such start ups in the second quarter of 2014.
The number of construction start ups increased notably in the three months to June, to 416 from 325 in the first quarter. However, it was down by 10 from 426 in the second quarter of 2014.
There were 183 manufacturing start ups, in line with the 184 seen in the second quarter of 2014 but up nine from 174 in the first three months of this year.
The number of sole traders starting business fell sharply compared with the second quarter of last year, to 1,104 from 1,248. This may reflect an improvement in labour market conditions. Some people start businesses when they do not have a job. Some 1,100 sole traders started up in the first quarter.
There were 1,900 company start ups in the second quarter, up from 1,746 in the same period of 2014 and 1,774 in the first three months of this year.
Start up numbers fell in the Glasgow City Council area, to 314 from 389 in the second quarter of 2014 and 359 in the first three months of this year.
In Edinburgh and Aberdeen start up numbers were down on the second quarter of 2014 but up on the first three months of this year.
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