Small and medium-sized business currently attempting to start a new business should not be affected by the recent credit crunch, according to one expert.

A spokesman for Startups.co.uk, an online magazine that gives advice on starting new businesses, said that for some people new opportunities may even be possible from the current market instability.

Matt Thomas, editor of the website, said: "I don’t see there being a major problem for start-ups because [the credit crunch] doesn't affect start-up rates that much."

He added that in the past uncertainty in the market has regularly seen many businesses spring up from the opportunities that arise and that although a recession may be bad news for some it may not be for others.

"Throughout history and in every recession we've had great times to start up businesses because they provide opportunities. Any business that struggles and goes out of business provides an opportunity for another one."

Earlier this year a study by Natwest found that around 17 million people in the UK had a business idea that they wished to pursue and that 26 per cent of those aimed to do so in the next 12 months.

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