Reports from some of the world's leading researchers on entrepreneurship and UK business show that, as a nation, the UK may be losing its appetite for entrepreneurialism.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the UK's business population revealed that the number of start-up businesses and sole-proprietorships in the UK has reduced for the first time in almost 20 years. Figures show 27,000 fewer businesses were set up in 2018 and the year closed with 49,000 fewer sole-proprietorships.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Global Report for 2018-2019 also found that only seven per cent of UK adults intend to start a business in the next three years, prompting speculation that the trend could continue.

Rhiannon Hooper, director at Hazlewoods accountants and business advisers in Cheltenham, said: "At face value the figures could look bleak, but the same ONS statistics also showed a two per cent increase in the number of larger employing businesses and a one per cent increase in the combined annual turnover of UK SMEs in the same period.

"The shift from high numbers of start-ups to an increase in small businesses transitioning into medium enterprises and then becoming larger employing businesses is still positive for the UK economy - these are the product of sustained growth.

"Our experience working with businesses has shown us that an established SME can be just as entrepreneurial in their aspirations as a start-up. The UK economy needs to be both stable and dynamic with room and support for established, growing SMEs alongside start-ups. It takes entrepreneurs of all types, and a healthy balance of them to achieve this."