Insolvencies down as start-ups at highest level since 2000

Company insolvencies fell by 28 per cent last year as the number of start-ups reached its highest level since 2000, new figures show.

Industries which were hit particularly hard during the recession were among those to bounce back in 2015 with the number of construction sector start-ups up 24 per cent to 1,643. In addition, manufacturing and hospitality-related start-ups rose by 19 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

New companies in the utilities space jumped by 131 per cent last year, according to the Vision.net data.

Professional services; wholesale and retail; and social and personal services sectors, were the three most popular for new start-ups in a year in which a total of 19,472 companies were formed. This marks the highest number of new firms since the millennium and beats the previous record of 19,306 company formations in 2006.

Dublin was the centre for start-up growth last year, accounting for almost 47 per cent of all new firms. Cork and Galway placed second and third, followed by Kildare and Limerick. Dublin, Cork and Galway were also the counties with the greatest number of insolvencies last year, albeit with declines versus 2014.

While there were a higher number of construction companies formed in 2015, the sector was also responsible for the third largest number of insolvencies, behind wholesale and retail; and professional services firms.

"Sectors that were impacted the most by the downturn, like hospitality and construction, have shown remarkable resilience, bouncing back from low levels of growth and high levels of insolvency. While extremely positive, the challenge for these sectors in the period ahead is to achieve sustained and balanced growth to avoid another boom-bust cycle," said Vision-net managing director Christine Cullen.