The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) found the proportion of adults in the UK starting a business is higher than any other European country for the first time.

A spokesman from Bibby Financial Services said:

"There's a real buzz about being in business sweeping the nation, with 'celebrity' being associated with entrepreneurship for the first time through the likes of Alan Sugar and the Dragon’s Den panellists bringing start-up and innovation to the masses through primetime television shows."