Brighton takes third crown in Best Places to Start a New Business for 2019-20
Cambridge takes second place in annual study, Edinburgh third
Southampton, Bournemouth and Ipswich move up the list; London falls
The seaside resort of Brighton has once again been named the “Best location to start a small business in the UK” in a comprehensive study complied by Informi, the website offering free practical advice and support for small businesses, using data from the Centre for Cities compiled prior to the ongoing Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
Brighton previously won the crown in the annual study in both 2016 and 2018, with Ipswich taking the title in 2017. The 2019 study, which looked at the entire 2010s decade as a whole, saw Reading triumph.
This year’s study, released ahead of Small Business Saturday, looked at data from the last financial year, focusing on eight different criteria across the 63 largest towns and cities in the UK to determine where had the best environment for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed. Categories included the number of new businesses, current business stock, pollution levels and digital connectivity.
Brighton performed strong in overall business stock, the number of start-ups over the past year and low pollution levels – appearing in the top three in all three categories. Cambridge rose three places from the 2018 study to come second in this year’s list, followed by Edinburgh which fell one place to third.
Strong year for seaside locations
Alongside Brighton’s success, it was a strong year for places near the coast with Southampton rising seven places to take fifth in the list and Bournemouth going up 23 places since 2018 to come in seventh. Previous winner Ipswich also performed well, rising by 25 spots on the previous survey to finish in eighth place.
*no annual study was undertaken for the 2019 year as Reading was named best place to start a small business across the 2010s decade, followed by Brighton and Northampton
Steven Drew, spokesperson for Informi said:
“2020 has been a challenging year for SMEs throughout the UK, due to the ongoing pandemic and uncertainty over Brexit. However, even during a time of uncertainty, there can be great hope that those with a strong, innovative business model and the resilience and flexibility to deal with a variety of economic and social circumstances can have a prosperous future. In that vein, it’s vital that our towns and cities contain the right ingredients for SMEs to thrive, creating thousands of local jobs along the way.
“Small businesses are the heartbeats of local economies, bringing new jobs and prosperity to regions as well as attracting external investment. Brighton has consistently shown it has a strong environment that is welcoming to entrepreneurs and we hope many others take lessons from what it has achieved.”
Sarah Springford, CEO at Brighton Chamber, added:
“I could not agree with Steven more!
“Brighton has a history of having a higher-than-average number of start-ups. In fact micro and small businesses with less than 10 employees make up 97% of all businesses here and are key to the economy.
“Brighton has all the right ingredients for nurturing start-ups including many wonderful new flexible work spaces, two excellent universities and people with the creative and entrepreneurial mindset who are attracted to living in wonderful coastal cities like Brighton.
“2020 has seen many early stage and new businesses join Brighton Chamber. There is excellent support for start-ups in Brighton including Brighton Chamber’s Catch the Wave programme and the Business Hothouse.”
Best places to start a business in the UK 2019-20: Full List
Brighton
Cambridge
Edinburgh
Reading
Southampton
Northampton
Bournemouth
Ipswich
London
Worthing
Bristol
Oxford
Luton
Exeter
York
Aldershot
Portsmouth
Aberdeen
Liverpool
Wigan
Slough
Derby
Chatham
Gloucester
Cardiff
Preston
Plymouth
Manchester
Birkenhead
Dundee
Southend
Hull
Warrington
Belfast
Leeds
Swindon
Blackpool
Glasgow
Milton Keynes
Birmingham
Leicester
Crawley
Burnley
Nottingham
Blackburn
Huddersfield
Bradford
Basildon
Coventry
Peterborough
Newcastle
Norwich
Newport
Sheffield
Telford
Swansea
Mansfield
Middlesbrough
Stoke
Doncaster
Barnsley
Wakefield
Sunderland
An interactive infographic showing the ranking of each city overall and on each criteria used is available here.
For more information please visit informi.co.uk