Best Business Hotspots | Utility Bidder

Renewable Energy Index - Utility Bidder

Starting a business is incredibly stressful, but it can also be extremely rewarding. It takes months of planning and preparation to get yourself ready.

There are a number of things to consider when starting your business, from products to location, even your business electricity. That’s why it’s so important to consider all the factors, to give your new business the best chance of success.

Not only do we make it easy to compare business energy rates, but we’ve also compared the cities you can start your business in. We’ve looked at everything from business survival rates, wifi speed, salaries, and qualifications, so you know where your business can take off.

Bristol crowned best city in the UK to start a business, with a total score of 7.85/10

Bristol

Bristol takes the top spot with a business hotspot score of 7.85 out of 10. Bristol ranks highly across the board, ranking in the top 10 for all but two of our categories. Bristol has the second-highest percentage of people in employment, at 82%. Bristol has two universities, the University of Bristol and the University of West England, which explains why it has the third-highest percentage of people with an NVQ of level 4 or above.

7.85

Business hotspot score

Edinburgh

The capital of Scotland has the second-highest business hotspot score at 7.81 out of 10. Edinburgh has the highest percentage of people with an NVQ Level 4 or above, which is no surprise given that the University of Edinburgh is consistently ranked as one of the top Universities in the world. Edinburgh also has the fourth-highest median salary in the UK at just over £30,000 a year.

7.81

Business hotspot score

Leeds

Completing our top three is Leeds with a business hotspot score of 7.66 out of 10. Leeds has the third-highest number of active businesses, with over 33,000. Leeds also had the fourth-highest number of business births at just over 4,100, showing that Leeds is a growing place for businesses. Based on the 2020 1-year survival rate, Leeds can expect 94.1% of these businesses to make it through the first year. Leeds also has three universities, the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, and Leeds Trinity University.

7.66

Business hotspot score

KEY: Fixed download speed (mbps Business births 2021 5 year survival rate 2016 1 year survival rate 2020 Median salary 2022 Active businesses Percentage of people with an NVQ level 4 or above Percentage of people in employment Business hotspot score

	City

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Solihull named WiFi hotspot of the UK, with a fixed download speed of 132.98 Mbps

There’s nothing more frustrating than being on a business call or meeting when the other person's wifi is buffering. That’s why we wanted to find out which places in the UK had the best Wifi.

Solihull

Solihull takes the top spot with the best wifi speed in the UK. Solihull’s download speed is just under 133mbps, more than 3mbps more than any other city. Solihull is a great place for businesses with both car manufacturer, Land Rover, and fitness apparel manufacturer, Gymshark based here. Triumph also had a motorbike factory in the West Midlands county between 1942 and 1983.

132.98

Fixed download speed (mbps)

Stockton-on-Tees

In second place is Stockton-on-Tees with a wifi speed of just under 130mbps. Stockton has seen an increase in service industries since the 1980s. This has resulted in the development of Teesdale Business Park where multiple call centres and offices are located.

129.59

Fixed download speed (mbps)

Southampton

Completing our top three is Southampton with a wifi speed of 129.49mbps, just 0.1mbps behind Stockton-on-Tees. One of the major employers of Southampton is, of course, the docks. It is the fourth-largest UK port, and is also home to luxury cruise ships.

129.49

Fixed download speed (mbps)

	City	Fixed download speed (mbps)

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Businesses in Leicester have the highest one year survival rate in the UK - 96.7%

People pour their heart and soul into their businesses, and making sure it survives is the number one priority. We wanted to know which cities had the highest survival rate after one year of trading.

Leicester

Leicester takes the top spot with a one year survival rate of 96.7%. The East Midlands city has a strong association with textiles, with Next, ASOS, and New Look all manufacturing in the city. Leicester has two large shopping centres, Highcross, and Haymarket Shopping centre, as well as two universities, the University of Leicester and De Montfort University.

96.7%

One year survival rate

Bury

The business survival rate after one year in Bury is 95.9%, the second highest in the UK. Like Leicester, Bury has a long history with textile production, which was mostly led by Sir Robert Peel, who was elected as Prime Minister twice during the 19th century. Bury is also known for its black puddings.

95.9%

One year survival rate

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees completes our top three with a one year survival rate of 95.6%, just 0.3% behind Bury. Not only does Stockton-on-Tees have great wifi, but startups here have a great chance of surviving the first year. Stockton-on-Tees is also where the friction match was born.

95.6%

One year survival rate

	City	One year survival rate 2020

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Over 85,000 business births took place in London in 2021 - more than any other UK city

New businesses are opening every day, and everywhere. We wanted to find out which cities had the highest number of new businesses opening in 2021.

London

England’s capital takes the top spot with over 85,000 business births in 2021. London is considered one of the financial capitals of the world, which makes it an attractive spot for new businesses. Its large population also makes it a good spot for businesses, with lots of potential customers and employees.

85,305

Business births in 2021

Birmingham

Birmingham takes second place with just under 7,000 new businesses opening during 2021. The West Midlands city is the second largest city in the UK, with a population of around one million people. Birmingham has five universities and also has campuses for the Open University. Birmingham’s one year survival rate is 93.9% which is still very good, despite not making the top 20 in our list.

6,855

Business births in 2021

Manchester

Manchester completes our top three with over 4,200 business births in 2021. During the industrial revolution, Manchester was one of the main centres for textile manufacturing and cotton processing. Manchester is also home to three universities.

4,245

Business births in 2021

	City	Business births in 2021

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The average monthly wage in London is £2,831 - highest figure in the UK

Salaries differ across the country. So we wanted to know which cities in the UK were earning the most per month. We’ve looked at the median salaries across different cities, and divided this by 12 to reveal which city earned the most per month.

London

London takes the top spot for the highest median monthly wages at £2,831 a month. London is one of the world’s major cities, boasting a number of different tourist attractions, from museums to sporting arenas. The capital of England also has four World Heritage Sites.

£2,831

Median monthly wages

Solihull

Solihull takes second place with a median monthly wage of £2,628. Solihull has a population of over 120,000 people. It’s also home to a number of excellent primary and secondary schools, which consistently perform well in the league tables.

£2,628

Median monthly wages

Chelmsford

Completing our top three is Chelmsford, with a median monthly wage of £2,581. Chelmsford was originally an agricultural town, however, it is now a vibrant city with three shopping centres and six retail parks. Chelmsford also employs around 80,000 people.

£2,581

Median monthly wages

	City	Median monthly wages

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Methodology

For the business births, one and five year survival rates, and active businesses, we used the Office of National Statistics' Business Demography Report from 2021, which was the latest release.

We then used Speedtest to get the fixed download speed (mbps) for each city.

We used the Office of National Statistics again for the median salary in 2022. We then divided the median salary by 12 to get the earnings per month.

We then used Nomis for the percentage of people with an NVQ level 4 or above and the percentage of people in employment.

Finally we used the Office of Rail and Road for the number of train stations in each city.

We then put this data into a weighted table, giving each score a normalised score out of 10. We then took an average of all the scores to get an overall business hotspot score out of 10.

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