As winter closes in and crime rates increase for burglaries, theft, business robberies and more across the UK, Adobe Express has researched which cities in the UK are safest for employees. The trends have been shared with Digital Journal.
As part of a wider national study to find the most employee friendly cities, the crime data takes into account safety perception, property crimes, specified crimes and violent crimes to reveal the 30 safest cities to work in.
Norwich, Newcastle and Brighton top the list, whilst Bradford, Coventry and Birmingham are deemed the least safe places to work. These cities are perhaps better locations for remote or hybrid working.
The data below, which takes into account people’s safety perceptions of each location, as well as property crimes, specified crimes and violent crimes, reveals that Norwich is officially the safest city for an employee in the UK. Newcastle upon Tyne and Brighton and Hove follow closely behind.
Bradford, Coventry and Birmingham have the lowest safety scores, and are therefore deemed the least safe cities to work in.
The rankings are:
1 Norwich
2 Newcastle upon Tyne
3 Brighton and Hove
4 Plymouth
5 Bristol
6 Sheffield
7 Derby
8 Portsmouth
9 Bournemouth
10 Leeds
11 Reading
12 Leicester
13 Stoke-on-Trent
14 Liverpool
15 Swindon
16 Nottingham
17 Peterborough
18 Southampton
19 Milton Keynes
20 Kingston upon Hull
21 Northampton
22 London
23 Manchester
24 Luton
25 Southend-on-Sea
26 Wolverhampton
27 Bolton
28 Birmingham
29 Coventry
30 Bradford
Eleven different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1.
As of September 2024, 13 percent of workers in Great Britain worked exclusively from home, while 23 percent adopted a hybrid approach. Employees in the UK have said that amongst several factors, lack of commute and savings on costs are some the main benefits of working from home.
A second ranking delves into all the aspects of working life to reveal the best cities for employees in the UK.
These are the UK’s top employee-friendly cities:
1 Swindon
2 Milton Keynes
3 Stoke-on-Trent
4 Reading
5 Plymouth
6 Sheffield
7 Leeds
8 Peterborough
9 Kingston upon Hull
10 Brighton and Hove
Swindon ranks as the UK’s most employee friendly city
Swindon comes out on top when it comes to employee havens scoring 6.541 overall and Swindon’s employment rate is higher than across the South West. The Swindon and Wiltshire area has an above average number of large companies, including brands like BMW, Ministry of Defence and Nationwide Building Society. Swindon also ranks seventh in Britain when it comes to the rate of productivity per worker.
Milton Keynes is one of the best employee friendly cities
In close second, Milton Keynes ranks as one of the best employee friendly cities in the UK, scoring highly for average annual salary. The private sector brings variety in businesses and competition between companies means that businesses will offer different set ups, and benefits to attract more workers – making it an ideal place for an employee to build a career.
Stoke-on-Tent takes third in employee friendly city rankings
Scoring highly for percentage of green space areas, Stoke-on-Trent ranks third overall with a score of 6.234. Stoke-on-Trent is centrally located in the UK with excellent transport links, including a direct rail link to major cities like Birmingham, Manchester, and London. This makes commuting and business travel convenient for employees working in or out of the city.
