In the first three months of this year, significantly fewer companies were closed down than in the same period last year, according to new figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
More than 30,000 companies were closed from January to March this year. That is more than 9,000 fewer than in the same time last year. This decrease is mainly due to the number of small companies where only one person works: they stopped less often in the first months of this year than last year.
Crisis
Last year the number of companies stopping increased. Over the entire year 2020, 140,000 entrepreneurs stopped their business, compared to 115,000 in 2019.
“Then it seemed that more entrepreneurs who were struggling because of the corona crisis had stopped their business,” says CBS economist Marjolijn Jaarsma. “But the number of quitters has not increased. We have no clear explanation for it. This is a crisis that is not easily predicted in figures.”
The number of bankruptcies has also been declining since the corona crisis. Despite the severe economic crisis, companies are therefore not disappearing on a large scale. Companies affected by the crisis can rely on the economic support package. The cabinet spends tens of billions on this.
Final blow
The Babyhuis Wierdsma in Sneek is one of those companies that decided to stop anyway. Owner Ditmer Wierdsma: “Ironically enough in our sixty-year anniversary year, we stick ‘closing sale’ on our windows. We wouldn’t have thought that a year ago, anyway.” Last year, the family business had invested in new advertisements and made the shop lighting more sustainable.
During the first lockdown, there was a corona dip, and after the summer activity picked up again. But the closing of December in the second lockdown was the final blow. “Since buying second-hand is on the rise and people borrowing more things from each other, it became more difficult for us. Corona was not the cause, but the last push.”
Less restaurants
Nevertheless, more new companies were added in the past quarter than were discontinued. In total, about 57,000 new companies were founded, about the same amount as in the same time last year. It mainly concerns web shops. Incidentally, web stores are in the top 10 of business startups as well as that of business closures. “That is a sector where companies start and stop all the time,” says economist Jaarsma.
Restaurants were set up less often this year: a third fewer new restaurants were added these months compared to last year.
Cafeterias and snack bars were set up about as often this year as they were last year. “I find that striking, to start such a business at this time. Perhaps that is a sign of optimism among entrepreneurs,” says Jaarsma.
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