For millions of business owners around the world, deciding where to set up shop is a vital decision, and one that could shape the future of their business for years to come. However, when making this decision there are numerous factors to consider, and choosing the right place can be difficult.
At Bark.com we have access to hundreds of thousands of price points from numerous business services across the UK, so decided to put our data to good use to find out where in the UK is the best place to start a business.
We analysed location price data from the last three years across accounting, recruitment, IT support, website creation and management, marketing, SEO, internet and phone providers to find out the average start-up cost per city in the UK.
We also took into account talent pool size, broadband quality and rent costs because some cities are incredibly cheap but wouldn’t be a viable home for most businesses. For example, Wells is cheap in terms of rent and business services, however is poor in terms of talent and broadband service.
Here is the full list of the ten best places to start a business in the UK, as well as each city’s average annual business launch cost:
1) Leeds – £15,550
2) Cardiff – £15,725
3) Liverpool – £15,744
4) Bristol – £16,013
5) Swansea – £16,082
6) Newcastle – £16,150
7) Birmingham – £16,368
8) Manchester – £17,129
9) Edinburgh – £17,174
10) London – £75,990
And here is the full list of the ten ‘worst’ places to start a business in the UK, as well as each city’s average annual business launch cost:
1) Truro – £22,306
2) St.Davids – £8,511
3) Bangor – £8,930
4) Wells – £15,299
5) Stirling – £15,482
6) Ripon – £7,989
7) Lichfield – £11,083
8) Perth – £9,007
9) Preston – £20,162
10) Salisbury – £19,405
The above cities have made the top ten ‘worst’ list because of either a very poor talent pool size, high rent and service provider costs or poor broadband, or a combination of these factors.
These average annual costs consider office rental, the cost of hiring a marketing, IT support, recruitment, accountancy, website and SEO agency, as well as the cost of internet and phone providers. It does not consider employee wages or corporation tax.
Kai Feller, co-founder of Bark.com said,
“When it comes to starting a business, choosing where to set up shop is always one of your first decisions. For decades, London has been the obvious choice for new businesses, however, we’re seeing that more and more people are opting to start their enterprise outside of the capital.
“Like Manchester and Birmingham, Leeds is fast becoming recognised as a business hotspot, so it’s not a surprise that it tops our list. It’s great to see the North of England getting the business accolade it deserves.”