THE NUMBERS 342,927 new businesses were registered with Companies House between January and June 2016, compared with 608,110 for the whole of 2015, itself a record year. Money is still in short supply - 16% of UK SMEs say funding for investment has become more difficult to access (up from 13% in 2015). 1 in 7 people are working for themselves in the UK - the highest in four decades WORDS: JADE HARDING. Despite post-Brexit uncertainty, 64% of UK respondents reported increased revenue in the past year The top UK entrepreneurs (by wealth) Richard Branson Victoria Beckham Alan Sugar Theo Paphitis Peter Jones James Caan is 15th on the list Recruitment is down but hiring intentions are positive - the proportion of firms taking on new staff has fallen from 21% to 13%, but for the year ahead 21% are planning to increase staff numbers 217