BOOM TOWN

In a nationwide poll Fareham ranked 54th in the country as the best place to set up business.

Business leaders are predicting business will boom with the completion of the multi-million- pound Market Quay retail and leisure complex.

Margaret Toms of the Chamber of Commerce said: "We are all immensely proud of Fareham and it is certainly up and coming. The Market Quay development will have a marked improvement our position as it will undoubtedly increase the footfall to the town centre.

"I am sure once people come here they will see what the town has to offer."

This year the town management has also unveiled plans to develop a virtual reality tour of the town on the Internet to encourage shoppers to the south coast town

The borough council has also officially opened the Faretec complex that caters for Information Technology companies.

Despite dipping out on a top 50 place, towns in Hampshire are booming with two of the county's towns named as the top five most profitable business communities in Britain.

The accolades go to the neighbouring south coast towns of New Milton and Lymington ranked fourth and fifth in the country as home to some of the most profitable concerns throughout Britain.

Financial research by financial information company Experian involved more than 100,000 small and medium sized enterprises nationwide and measured their success by their profit margin.

Both New Milton and Lymington emerged among the most select in Britain as the place to set up business and be successful, pipped only by Bexleyheath, Potters Bar and the Scottish town of Ayr.

Lymington did particularly well, with its average profit margin increasing from 5.0 per cent to 11.6 per cent. As a result, the town moved up 103 places from 108th position in 2000 to 5th in 2001.

New Milton figured in the top 15 last year but its record of business lifted it seven places to fourth.

Meanwhile, Winchester, once regarded among the richest cities in the country, didn't even make it to the top 400, for the second year running.

It was among a handful of towns and cities which recorded the greatest decline in average profit margin by its businesses. Profitability declined by more than eight per cent, with almost one in five businesses making losses.

"Every town and city has its fair share of highly successful, profitable businesses but, inevitably, some towns have experienced a decline in profitability this year," said Phil Cotter of Experian's commercial business.

"Small and medium sized enterprises make up around 95 per cent of the total business community in the UK and have a major impact on the development of the community in which they are based. Their profitability provides a major indication of the state of the UK economy and is a key contributing factor to local economic regeneration, growth and employment.The research revealed that the top 50 towns are concentrated in the South of England, with the South East alone home to 34 of the 50 most profitable towns, yet Basingstoke is the only other one in Hampshire among the 50, although it dropped 12 places from last year to rank 32nd. Christchurch stepped in in 43rd place and Eastleigh in 103rd place, just one up from last year.Petersfield ranked at 135, while Southampton was well down the ratings at 222nd place, with 22 per cent of businesses in the city reckoned to be making losses.Rival city Portsmouth was still further down the list in 317th place, although the proportion of businesses making a profit was marginally higher than in Southampton."The general deterioration in profit margins is symptomatic of the economy as a whole. While official statistics indicate that the economy is continuing to expand, albeit at a slower pace, this is at the expense of profit margins, which are being squeezed by higher employment costs, the costs of meeting new regulations and the low inflation, which is preventing companies from passing on their higher costs. In addition, they are having to contend with an ever-rising volume of imports from low cost economies, leading to the frightening statistic that almost a third of all small and medium-sized companies made a loss last year. Inevitably, this is affecting job prospects in some parts of the country and has led to an increase in company failures during 2002."Nevertheless, the fact that the average profit margin in so many towns and cities did increase in 2001 is testament to the creativity, inventiveness, perseverance and sheer hard work among our small and medium-sized businesses, which form the backbone of our economy and create the nation's wealth."