Almost one in four companies in Wales are now high growth according to the Barclays and BGF Entrepreneurs Index, a bi-annual series tracking the UK entrepreneurial lifecycle.

Wales was one of just three regions to see a rise in the proportion of high growth companies, along with the South West and the East of England, rising by 1.3 per cent in the year to December 2014].

In further evidence of Wales’ healthy start-up scene, the report found that the number of new businesses starting up in Wales grew by nine per cent in the year to March 2015 to reach a total of 98,000.

The region also remains stable in terms of investment activity, seeing 49 deals resulting in wealth creation of £200,000 or more over the 12 months to the end of June 2015. This is the same that was calculated on the same period previously.

The new report attributed much of this growth to Wales’s ongoing role as a target for government funding for innovation, with two recent government projects SMART Cymru and SMART Expertise likely to provide a further boost to the start-up landscape.

The boom in the number of businesses in Wales echoed a trend seen at a national level, where the number of active companies rose by 3.86 per cent - the biggest rise since the Index began in 2012. Nationwide, the number of company dissolutions was also lower than in the previous six months – the first time this has happened since the Index began – reversing a three-year trend.

Eileen Cronin, regional director, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Wales, said: “It is fantastic to see that the latest version of the Index reveals that Wales is performing above the national average when it comes to high growth companies. Also encouraging is the spike in the number of new companies, suggesting an entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in the region.

“We now need to ensure this success is sustained, to enable a greater proportion of Welsh businesses to achieve high growth ambitions. The industry needs to do more to support this segment.”

Paul Oldham, regional director, South West and South Wales, BGF, said: “As long-term equity investors in growing UK companies, we are excited by the size and dynamics of the addressable market in Wales. It is very promising to see that the region has seen such a positive rise in the number of entrepreneurs starting up their own companies and I’m hoping their confidence will encourage other business leaders to pursue their own entrepreneurial ambitions. These figures match the ambition that we experience regularly as we meet growth-oriented business owners in Wales to explore the ways in which BGF can provide capital and support to achieve their near and long term goals.”