Birmingham retains title of top start-up city outside London

BIRMINGHAM played host to more start-up companies than any city outside London in 2015.

Retaining its title as most entrepreneurial regional city, Birmingham saw 14,152 companies registered during the year, according to figures released by StartUp Britain.

The figure dwarfs the next nearest rival, Manchester, which saw 8,712 companies registered. Leeds was in third place amongst regional cities with 6,926 start-ups.

But even if all the regional city totals were added together they would come nowhere near the London figure of 196,146 companies registered.

Whilst impressive, Birmingham’s total has dropped by more than 4,000 from the 18,337 companies registered in 2014:

Sue Summers, chief executive of Finance Birmingham, said: “Although Birmingham recorded fewer new company registrations than in 2014, it remains a highly popular location for start-ups and entrepreneurs.

“The city offers a large, skilled and youthful workforce, established infrastructure and strong digital connectivity – all of which are critical to helping new ideas and ambitions flourish, particularly in the creative and tech sectors.”