The UK has a long tradition with finance and acts as a hub for many of the global banking transactions. But where is finance most greatly concentrated? Unsurprisingly, given its place in the upper echelons of finance, the City of London ranks first for the UK’s financial top ten, according to a new survey of financial hot spots. This is with 15 percent of finance and insurance business being present within the square mile.
Salford, in Greater Manchester, comes in second and the cathedral city of Carlisle in Cumbria is third.
The survey comes from the trading company CMC Markets, who analysed government data on the total number of businesses present across more than 400 districts, counties and unitary authorities in the U.K. The firm compared them to the number of businesses in the finance and insurance sector, to discover where has the highest concentration of finance companies.
In ranking first, the City of London has 22,305 total businesses, 3,400 of which are within the finance and insurance sphere, resulting in 15.42 percent. With Salford, there are 1,450 of finance businesses out of 10,910, which corresponds to 13.29 percent. With Carlisle, the locale has 5,180 businesses, 625 of which are finance and insurance, resulting in 12.07 percent.
The top ten are:
| Top 10 UK locations housing the most finance and insurance businesses | ||||
| Rank | Location | Total number of businesses | Number of finance & insurance businesses | Percentage of finance and insurance businesses |
| 1 | City of London | 22,305 | 3,440 | 15.42 |
| 2 | Salford | 10,910 | 1,450 | 13.29 |
| 3 | Carlisle | 5,180 | 625 | 12.07 |
| 4 | Waverley | 8,235 | 810 | 9.84 |
| 5 | Stevenage | 3,185 | 275 | 8.63 |
| 6 | Westminster | 53,370 | 4,290 | 8.04 |
| 7 | Leicester | 14,595 | 1,155 | 7.91 |
| 8 | Blaby | 4,150 | 305 | 7.35 |
| 9 | Ashford | 6,485 | 395 | 6.09 |
| 10 | Nottingham | 9,625 | 565 | 5.87 |
In fourth place is the Borough of Waverley. Located in Surrey, Waverley counts 8,235 businesses overall, 810 of which belong to the finance & insurance industry, making it 9.84 percent. The top five closes with Stevenage, in Hertfordshire. The city counts 3,185 total businesses, 275 of which are finance & insurance, which corresponds to 8.36 percent.
The data demonstrates that the UK is fairly balanced when it comes to financial businesses.
