The UK has made it into the top 10 rankings in this year's World Bank Doing Business report, up one place on last year.

With the report now in its 11th year, Doing Business 2014: Understanding regulations for small and medium-size enterprises analyses the impact of regulations throughout the business lifecycle across 189 jurisdictions, ranking economies on the basis of 10 indicators, including ease of starting a business and paying taxes.

Despite the improvement in its overall standing, the UK's results this year are somewhat mixed, with the country showing improvements in only four areas - insolvency resolution, contract enforcement, property registration and ease of paying taxes, where it moves from 17th to 14th place.

The country has held on to the number one slot for ease of obtaining credit. However, many commentators remain sceptical about this element of the rankings.

Mark Turner, managing partner of Russell Bedford member firm Lubbock Fine said: 'It is highly gratifying to see the UK ranked among the world's top 10 business locations - and particularly to see improved standing in terms of ease of paying taxes.

'But, as last year, rankings on access to credit perhaps disguise more than they reveal. We continue to hear too many stories of SMEs and entrepreneurs unable to secure the credit they need for business growth - and paying too much for it when they do. For whatever reasons, recent government initiatives aren't reaching those businesses that need them most, and we will continue to push for improvements here.'

To access the World Bank report, click HERE