LAST year saw the fewest new businesses created in Barnsley since local records began, the latest figures have revealed.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, around 865 new businesses opened in Barnsley in 2023, down from 960 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, 875 businesses closed in the area last year, down from 975 in 2022.

This means the total number of businesses in Barnsley fell slightly last year.

Local records go back to 2018, and show Barnsley has seen the fewest new businesses open of any year since then.

Across the UK, the rate of new businesses opening hit its lowest level since 2010, at 11 per cent of all active businesses.

Despite this, the death rate - the proportion of active businesses which closed last year - also fell to 10.8 per cent.

As a result, business openings overtook closures.

This was a reversal from 2022, which was the first year in more than a decade when there were more deaths than births.

Anna Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, blamed poor financial conditions after the pandemic, a ‘relatively weak’ growth environment and skill shortages.

“Recent budget decisions unfortunately undermine the UK’s business environment, disincentivising employment and reducing investment through the impact of higher taxes on business costs,” she added.

“Meanwhile, higher public spending is expected to raise the cost of finance in the UK.

“If the government wants to get higher growth, it’ll need a vibrant business sector to deliver it.”

However, the figures did show an increase in the number of ‘high-growth’ businesses, those which saw their workforce swell by more than 20 per cent for three years in a row.

There were about 13,750 such businesses nationally in 2023, an increase from 11,480 a year earlier.

Yorkshire and the Humber had 965 high-growth businesses, comprising 4.3 per cent of companies in the area.