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The British Entrepreneurial Index reveals the most entrepreneurial regions across the UK


  • Bromsgrove, West Midlands has seen the biggest growth in startups, with a 171.3% increase in new businesses from 2018 to 2019
  • Ballymena, Northern Ireland has the highest startup survival rate in the UK, with a survival rate of 55.56%
  • The highest percentage of self-employed workers is found in Greater London, were 18.6% of the workforce is self-employed
  • Postal and courier activities is the fastest growing sector for start-ups, seeing a 263.5% increase in startups over a 5 year period

New research from Tide, the UK’s leading business financial platform, has revealed which areas of the UK are currently booming with new businesses, what chances startups have of succeeding, and which sectors have seen the biggest startup growth over the past half-decade.

You can view the research in full here: https://www.tide.co/british-entrepreneurial-index/

The city regions with the highest number of self-employed workers

Rank Region Number of self-employed workers Total employees % of self-employed workers 
1 Greater London Authority 864,000 3,778,000 18.60%
2 Swansea Bay City Region 50,000 263,000 16.10%
3 West of England Combined Authority 74,000 422,000 14.90%
4 North of Tyne Combined Authority 54,000 326,000 14.10%
5 Greater Manchester Combined Authority 183,000 1,146,000 13.80%
6 Edinburgh and South East Scotland 91,000 598,000 13.20%
7 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority 56,000 373,000 13.00%
8 West Midlands Combined Authority 167,000 1,133,000 12.90%
9 Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 88,000 639,000 12.20%
10 Tees Valley Combined Authority 34,000 255,000 11.90%

 

Greater London has the greatest percentage of self-employed workers, as 18% of Greater London’s 3.8 million workers are self-employed. Following London is the Swansea Bay City Region, which incorporates Swansea, Pembrokeshire and Port Talbot, with a total of 50,000 out of 263,000 workers being self-employed.

The regions with the biggest growth in new startups

Rank Local Authority Region 2018 new business births 2019 new business births Difference
1 Bromsgrove West Midlands 1865 5060 171.3%
2 Wyre Forest West Midlands 405 980 142.0%
3 Redditch West Midlands 380 880 131.6%
4 Kettering East Midlands 455 910 100.0%
5 Bournemouth South West 1070 2095 95.8%
6 Telford and Wrekin West Midlands 670 1125 67.9%
7 Wychavon West Midlands 705 1180 67.4%
8 Southampton South East 1230 1960 59.3%
9 Hinckley and Bosworth East Midlands 485 735 51.5%
10 St Albans East 1135 1630 43.6%

 

The research also looked at the rate at which startups were founded in 2018 and 2019 to see which local authority area has had the biggest surge in new businesses. The top ten was dominated by the South and the Midlands, with the top 3 including Bromsgrove, Wyre Forest and Redditch.

Unfortunately, not every new startup goes on to great success. Of the 350,505 businesses started in 2014, only 148,870 survived five years. Looking at the survival rate of new businesses between 2014 and 2019, the research found that businesses in Ballymena, West Somerset and Torridge have the highest startup survival rates respectively.

Sectors experiencing the fastest growth in new startups

To discover which sectors are growing fastest in the UK, the research calculated the increase in startups in each sector between 2014 and 2019.

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Rank Industry 2014 new start-ups 2019 new start-ups Difference
1 Postal and courier activities 3045 11070 263.5%
2 Mining of metal ores 10 25 150%
3 Veterinary activities 370 695 87.8%
4 Other manufacturing 875 1600 82.9%
5 Warehousing and support activities for transportation 1685 3070 82.2%
6 Land transport and transport via pipelines 10610 18395 73.4%
7 Other mining and quarrying 50 85 70.0%
8 Manufacture of beverages 305 485 59.0%
9 Residential care activities 690 1045 51.4%
10 Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas 50 75 50.0%

 

By far the sector to experience the greatest growth during the past half-decade is Postal and Courier services, with over 100% higher growth than any other sector at a 263.5% increase.  Followed by Veterinary Activities, which experienced an 87.8% increase from 370 in 2014.

Most attractive towns and cities to launch a business

By combining data on a number of important factors including the rise in the number of startups, the five-year startup survival rate, and the number of Tide registered businesses as a percentage of the town’s population, the research revealed the best towns and cities to launch a business.

Rank Towns/Cities Increase In Startups % Five Year Survival Rate Tide Registered Businesses Population Businesses Per People Overall Score
1 Bournemouth 95.80% 45.65% 837 187,503 0.45% 8.60
2 Stevenage 26.70% 45.54% 520 87,845 0.59% 7.70
3 Watford 38.10% 45.45% 482 96,800 0.50% 7.45
4 Chelmsford 3.80% 47.21% 917 168,310 0.54% 7.26
5 Colchester 27.20% 44.94% 534 121,859 0.44% 6.77
6 Exeter 21.10% 43.96% 618 128,900 0.48% 6.63
7 Reading 5.50% 46.12% 911 218,705 0.42% 6.40
8 Peterborough 9.20% 40.91% 1,240 202,259 0.61% 6.39
9 Preston 0.00% 41.91% 856 141,818 0.60% 6.34
10 Blackburn 11.90% 40.16% 912 148,753 0.61% 6.29

 

Bournemouth is crowned the best city outside of London to start a business. The primary reason for Bournemouth’s high ranking is the 95.8% increase in startups between 2018 and 2019, which is by far the highest of any of the top 50 towns and cities. Bournemouth also has a 5-year survival rate of 45.65% which makes it the fifth-best performing city in this regard. The city also ranks in the top 15 for registered business as a percentage of the population.

Oliver Prill CEO at Tide comments on the findings:

“Taking the step into entrepreneurship is a big one, and I am always impressed by the number of people who are keen to leap into the unknown and give it a go, particularly in the last year, when we have seen an unprecedented number of new businesses emerge. It’s a very difficult step to take though, and as the data shows, not all start-ups make it. 

“There are a number of steps that new business owners can take to increase their chances of success.

  1. Before quitting your day job to start a business, try to run your business alongside your job – this can be exhausting, but it gives you the opportunity to see if the business can generate an income without the financial pressure
  2. When you’re ready to take the plunge and dedicate all your time to your business, take the time to assess how to use your time most effectively – the admin side of running a business is time consuming, but there are services, like Tide, out there to lighten the burden
  3. Fail fast – if something isn’t working, don’t waste time and energy trying to make it work, be agile and try something new. The beauty of starting your own business is that you have the freedom to take in the direction you want.”

 

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