British start-ups are more likely to survive their first year of business than most of their European peers, according to new data.
Research conducted by Rousseau Associates has found that 93% of the 234,000 UK businesses launched in 2011 survived their first year of business, compared to an average survival rate across Europe of 83%.
The UK's business survival rate was also better than Europe's other biggest economies, France (79%) and Germany (78%). However, Sweden had the highest survival rate at 95%.
Analysis by Rousseau Associates suggests that some key factors have given UK start-ups the edge, including the UK's strong economic growth. Other factors include the fact that the UK has less restrictive employment laws than many other European countries giving UK start-ups more flexibility around hiring and easy access to staff.
It also says UK start-ups have been given a "significant helping hand" from Government initiatives. For instance, the National Insurance Employment Allowance has significantly reduced the cost to start-ups of taking on their first employee. In addition, R&D tax relief has allowed small businesses to claim an additional 125% of their eligible R&D costs from their taxable income.
Michael Heath, business development director at Rousseau Associates, said: "UK SMEs have been given a helping hand with favourable Government policies, which have allowed them to keep growth on track. These policies have helped to make it less of a risk for start-ups to take on new staff and expand."
The recession also encouraged entrepreneurs to be more inventive, he said. "For example, while the high street was facing huge numbers of voids, the pop-up shop and restaurant model provided an efficient way for entrepreneurs to test new concepts before committing to setting up a business. Similarly the proliferation of incubators and accelerators across a range of sectors meant that many start-ups were better funded and had access to better advice than might previously have been the case."