A new study from CMC Markets has revealed which U.K. cities are home to the most successful new businesses. In time of economic downturn, such information is useful for businesses and watchers of regional politics.
In 2020, the U.K. government put in place measures to level up cities, encourage new businesses, help the economy to recover from the pandemic and help provide new homes. How successful have these measures been? One indicator is connected with business survival rates.
Local economies and plans for growth were boosted with 15 Town Deals totalling £335 million. This included repurposing empty shops on high streets for use as alternative business premises.
The data from the study revealed the town of Reading has the lowest percentage of closures, with just 0.13 percent of businesses launched in 2022 going into liquidation.
The study used business intelligence software, Endole, to analyse how many businesses were incorporated in the UK’s largest 25 cities 2022 compared to the number that went into administration, liquidation, or were dissolved.
The outcome is:
| City | No. of Reported Openings | No. of Reported Closures | Percent of Closures |
| Reading | 6,877 | 9 | 0.13% |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 6,228 | 13 | 0.21% |
| Plymouth | 4,744 | 13 | 0.27% |
| Cardiff | 18,232 | 58 | 0.32% |
| Edinburgh | 17,372 | 71 | 0.41% |
| Bradford | 2,655 | 11 | 0.45% |
| Bristol | 17,043 | 94 | 0.55% |
| Northampton | 8,993 | 49 | 0.55% |
| Derby | 8,109 | 45 | 0.56% |
| Belfast | 7,819 | 62 | 0.79% |
The data was sourced from business intelligence platform Endole.com which holds a database of information on U.K. businesses. The number of openings and closures are limited to the data on this platform.
The table shows that Reading is the city with the lowest percentage of business closures (0.13%), suggesting this is a hotspot for talented entrepreneurs. Stoke-on-Trent lands in second place, with 6,228 new businesses opening in the last five years and just 13 reported closures.
Plymouth lands in third place with just 0.27 percent of new businesses struggling to survive, followed by Welsh capital Cardiff with just 58 closures. Scottish capital, Edinburgh, also makes the top five cities for successful businesses, with a closure rate of 0.41 percent.
