Birmingham most entrepreneurial city outside London – report
BIRMINGHAM remains the most entrepreneurial UK city outside London, according to data released by StartUp Britain.
Analysis of Companies House data shows that 18,337 new businesses were registered in Birmingham during 2014 – an increase of more than 2,000 on the previous year, and more than any other city outside the capital.
Manchester follows in second place with 13,054 companies registered and Brighton is third with 8,344.
Birmingham was also the most popular regional destination for start-ups in 2013 according to StartUp Britain, a national entrepreneurship campaign, with 16,281 companies registered.
The city continues to attract businesses from across the UK and overseas. The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area attracted more inward investment projects than any other English region last year. Birmingham’s GVA increased by 6% between 2012 and 2013, more than any other UK core city.
Neil Rami, chief executive of inward investment agency Marketing Birmingham, said: “Birmingham’s ability to attract and retain the UK’s entrepreneurial talent has created a thriving eco-system of start-ups, which is helping to drive its economic growth.
“Increasing numbers of ambitious new businesses are locating in Birmingham as the city enters a new period of transformation – with schemes ranging from Birmingham New Street’s redevelopment to the transformation of the Paradise Circus area and the impending construction of HS2.”
The news follows growing recognition for Birmingham as a popular home for new and emerging businesses. The city has doubled its number of accelerator and incubator programmes in the past two years, according to a report by Telefonica from November 2014 called ‘The Rise of the UK Accelerator and Incubator System’.
