WORCESTERSHIRE saw more business start-ups than any other area in the West Midlands during the second quarter of 2003, according to new research from Barclays Bank.

With 38 business starts per 10,000 head of working population, Worcestershire topped the West Midlands league table. Shropshire and Solihull came in joint second with 36 business starts, just above the national average of 35.

Barclays quarterly Start-ups and Closures survey, published this month, revealed that 108,000 new businesses were started between April and June 2003, an increase of 12 per cent on the equivalent period in 2002.

Closures fell one per cent to 113,000 compared to the second quarter of 2002 and 3.5 per cent of the population aged 16 to 65 is in the process of starting a business.

The survey also showed 30 per cent of businesses are started by women.