Coventry ranked the third-best UK city to start a business

Coventry has been ranked the third-best UK city to start a business.

The West Midlands city was behind only Bradford and Leicester in the SME Growth Factors Index, a rankings system created by Barclays.

The analysis looked at the UK’s 20 largest cities by population and measured 12 growth factors, including business rate relief, infrastructure, broadband speed and labour productivity.

“It’s really encouraging to see that so many areas offering growth potential are outside of London and the South East,” said Ian Rand, chief executive of Barclays Business Banking.

“Entrepreneurs 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.”

Bradford was ranked highest overall, with the best business rate relief, road infrastructure, number of job vacancies, cost of commercial rent, and business survival rate.

Leicester featured in second place thanks to its strong business survival rate, distance travelled to work and level of business rate relief. Coventry came in third place, with the highest net migration into the city.

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