Bradford named best UK city to start a business, according to new report

Bradford is the best city in the UK in which to start a business, according to Barclays’ SME Growth Factors Index.

The West Yorkshire city features some of the best growth environments for small businesses to grow and flourish, the report claims.

The Index, created by Barclays Business Banking, reflects the strength of 12 key growth factors such as business rate relief, infrastructure, broadband speed and labour productivity, which are essential to boosting business productivity and growth.

Analysing the 20 largest cities by population size across the UK, the index ranks each city based on the strength of each factor.

As well as Bradford, the other cities with the top growth environments for UK start-ups are Leicester; Coventry; Edinburgh and Liverpool.

Bradford was ranked first overall, reflecting good performances on road infrastructure (the top ranking), job vacancies (the top ranking), commercial rent costs (the top ranking), and business rate relief (the top ranking).

Additional Barclays analysis revealed that London, Birmingham and Leeds have seen the highest number of business startups over the last six years. In the capital, almost 577,000 startup businesses have launched since 2012, while Birmingham has seen 45,000 new businesses, and there have been 26,400 in Leeds.

In terms of growth factors in these cities, however, the results are less positive. London gives out some of the smallest amounts of business rate relief and has the highest commercial rent costs, appearing 12th on the overall list of 20 cities.

Similarly, Birmingham features in 11th place, let down by its road infrastructure and poor quality of life, while Leeds ranks in 18th place, also as a result of its poor road infrastructure.

In comparison, just 16,800 of businesses have started in Bradford since 2012, 13,200 in Coventry, and 15,300 in Leicester. But these startups have the strongest growth factors which are key to business productivity and growth.

Caroline Pullich, head of SME for Yorkshire at Barclays Business Banking, commented: “It’s really encouraging to see that so many areas offering growth potential are outside of London and the South East, particularly with Bradford ranking as the top city across the UK.

“We undertook this study because we support small companies right across the country, and are keen to help more people start and grow businesses wherever opportunities exist. We’re committed to investing in Bradford’s SMEs and entrepreneurs, evidenced through our recent ‘Invest in Bradford’ business roundtable events with local key business people.

“Entrepreneurs do need to consider the market for their particular company, but an environment that supports growth can make a real difference. The growth factors identified by the research can become even more valuable when small companies start looking to scale up and grow, which is something we particularly encourage.”