Starting your own business is a safer option than being employed in the technology sector, according to research by UK Business Incubation (UKBI), the industry body for incubator centres.

UKBI cites statistics suggesting that 90 per cent of new ventures that are incubated are still flourishing after three years, and 80 per cent are trading after five years, while only 41 per cent of UK businesses in general have an average three-year success rate.

The figures show that starting a business with the support and resources of a business incubator is now less of a risk than remaining in normal employment and waiting for the axe to fall, said Nick Sturge, director of the SETsquared Partnership, a business incubator programme supported by the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey.

"If you have already been laid off, there has never been a better time to look at the option of starting on your own. There has never been more support available," said Sturge.

SETsquared claims that companies set up under the scheme have raised over £120m worth of investment in the past four years, and have created more than 1,000 new jobs.

The UK now has over 300 business incubators, compared to a handful at the start of the last recession in the early 1990s.