A new piece of research has found that the number of people hoping to start up their own businesses has doubled since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, to one out of every seven.

NatWest conducted this study, called the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2020, in collaboration with a number of UK universities and business training schools. It saw the bank speak to a total of 9,400 people aged between 18 and 80, with the results showing that the percentage that want to create their own small businesses has risen by 50% compared with 2019.

The results of the study fly in the face of previous figures concerning the number of small business owners in the UK, which suggested that there had been a 25% drop in the number of them during the course of last year. Those intending to start up a business could benefit from consulting accountants in Goole or anywhere else about their financial plans.

The GEM report also revealed distinct disparities based on factors like ethnicity and age, with 14% of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people setting up their own businesses, compared with 7.5% among the population as a whole. People between the ages of 18 and 29 were particularly keen to go into business for themselves, while those aged between 55 and 64 were the least keen.

Mark Hart, Aston University’s small business and entrepreneurship professor, stated that the figures among BAME people were particularly remarkable given how badly they had been impacted by the Covid-19 virus.