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A record number of young people started their own business over the first half of the year, according to new figures.

Entrepreneurs aged under-25 started an estimated 20,700 businesses during the first six months of 2007, according to Barclays' start-up survey.

That compared to the 18,000 businesses started by those of the same age during the first-half of 2006, with the rise sending the number of start-ups inspired by the nation's youth to the highest level since Barclays first started recording figures in 2003.

According to the bank there has been a 15 per cent rise in the number of businesses started by those following in the footsteps of people like Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, both of whom founded the big brand names at or before the age of 25.

Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin were of a similar age when they founded the internet search giant.

But while the number of young people taking a similar path to business ownership has increased substantially, the number of start-ups founded by people of other age groups has risen by just six per cent.

Construction and hairdressing are among the most popular industries among young people to start-up a business, with the restaurant and leisure sector also proving a draw for budding entrepreneurs.

However while many of the world's most-recognised entrepreneurs are known for their contribution to IT and the internet, just three per cent of young business owners in the UK chose to go into computing.

Commenting on the results of the survey, John Davis, marketing director for local business at Barclays said: "These are extremely encouraging figures as young people are key contributors towards UK businesses and the economy.

"Young people can bring sky high levels of ambition and 'out-of-the box' creative thinking, characteristics we have found to be perceived as critical to entrepreneurial success," he added.

The Barclays survey revealed that a total of 253,700 new businesses, across all age groups, were set up during the first six months of 2007 – a seven per cent increase on the first-half of last year.

Meanwhile a leading business group has claimed that chancellor Alistair Darling risks undermining British entrepreneurialism by changing the current rules related to capital gains tax. In his pre-Budget report this week the Treasury chief said that he would introduce a flat rate of 18 per cent for the tax.

But John Cridland, deputy director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has slammed the change.

Speaking on the Today programme he said: "This tax increase will undermine investment in entrepreneurial and growing businesses just as it will undermine efforts by private equity firms to grow for the long term.

"It favours short term investment. It does not favour risk taking," he explained.