When it comes to starting a business, having a profitable idea and building it is one thing, but where you bring it all together can be just as important. We analysed 46 UK cities across four key metrics: business survival rates, closures, broadband speed, and annual disposable income to uncover where the most promising startup locations are, and where you should potentially rethink starting a business.
So, if you want to set yourself up for business success, where should you consider relocating to? Well, Belfast tops the list with a near-perfect score of 34 out of an overall 40. It scored a perfect 10 on number of business closures, which was calculated based on how many business closures there are per 100 active businesses in the area. This gives an indication of how businesses flourish or otherwise in this area. So, businesses in Belfast are not only getting over the dreaded one-year failure, which 20% of businesses can't do, but they're making it to year five and still trading scoring an impressive 8.8 on our index. No-one wants their hard work to be for nothing, and longevity of a new business is an important consideration when taking the leap and starting out. Belfast did just as well on the gigabit broadband score with 8.8. As the world becomes even more digitally led, having good connectivity is a must for new businesses and superfast connectivity can give most businesses a crucial edge. And finally, when you start a business, you need to know whether the Gross Disposable Household Income of your customers is growing or in decline as it will impact your success. In this instance, Belfast held steady with a solid score of 6.4. So, it's clear that this city offers the kind of infrastructure and resilience that founders desperately need, all of which come at a far lower cost than in London.
Coming in a close second place and narrowly missing out on top spot is Cambridge, with an overall score of 33.8. This historic city scored highly for business survival and top-notch broadband access. It's not surprising, as its strong academic roots and access to talent from the university makes it a natural launchpad for startups. This was reinforced by the fact that 7.7% of the university alumni have become founders of their own business. Finally, in third place is Exeter. This city boasts the highest 5-year business survival rate on the index and is paired with strong income growth a great sign of local spending power.
Index - Best cities to start a business
Business closure score
Measures the rate of business closures per 100 active businesses in the area. Lower scores indicate fewer closures and potential economic issues.
5-year survival score
Shows the share of businesses still operating five years after founding. Higher scores mean stronger business longevity.
Gigabit-capable broadband score
Indicates percentage of area with gigabit capable broadband, reflecting digital infrastructure quality.
Average annual growth of GDHI score
GDHI is disposable household income. The score reflects average percentage growth over five years. A higher score shows better growth and stronger economies.
| Rank | Location | UK Region |  |
 |
 |
 |
Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | 10 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 6.4 | 34.0 |
| 2 | Cambridge | East Anglia | 9.6 | 9.4 | 8 | 6.8 | 33.8 |
| 3 | Exeter | South West | 8.8 | 10 | 5.8 | 8.6 | 33.2 |
| 4 | Bristol | South West | 8 | 8.4 | 7.2 | 9.2 | 32.8 |
| 5 | Stockport | North West | 7.4 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 29.2 |
| 6 | Newcastle upon Tyne | North East | 6.4 | 8 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 28.6 |
| 7 | Edinburgh | Scotland | 8.6 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 9 | 28.4 |
| 8 | Wakefield | Yorkshire | 6.8 | 7 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 28.2 |
| 9 | Leicester | East Midlands | 4.6 | 5.4 | 9.6 | 8.2 | 27.8 |
| 10 | Dundee | Scotland | 7.2 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 4.4 | 27.6 |
| 11 | Leeds | Yorkshire | 6 | 5 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 27.0 |
| 12 | Norwich | East Anglia | 8.4 | 6.2 | 5 | 7.2 | 26.8 |
| 13 | York | Yorkshire | 9.2 | 9.6 | 2 | 4.4 | 25.2 |
| 14 | Lincoln | East Midlands | 8.2 | 9.8 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 25.0 |
| 15 | Nottingham | East Midlands | 7 | 3 | 7.4 | 7 | 24.4 |
| 16 | Plymouth | South West | 5.4 | 8.6 | 6.2 | 4 | 24.2 |
| 17 | Kingston upon Hull | Yorkshire | 1.6 | 7.4 | 10 | 5.2 | 24.2 |
| 18 | Lancaster | North West | 9 | 8.2 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 23.2 |
| 19 | Cardiff | Wales | 2.8 | 7.2 | 4.8 | 8 | 22.8 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | South East | 5.8 | 3.4 | 8.8 | 4.8 | 22.8 |
| 21 | Sheffield | Yorkshire | 4.8 | 9 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 22.4 |
| 22 | Blackburn with Darwen | North West | 3.6 | 6.4 | 2.2 | 10 | 22.2 |
| 23 | Wolverhampton | West Midlands | 1 | 4 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 22.2 |
| 24 | Glasgow | Scotland | 6.6 | 3.6 | 6 | 5.6 | 21.8 |
| 25 | Preston | North West | 5.6 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 7.4 | 21.2 |
| 26 | Oxford | South East | 9.4 | 7.6 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 21.0 |
| 27 | Derby | East Midlands | 5 | 4.8 | 9.2 | 2 | 21.0 |
| 28 | Coventry | West Midlands | 1.4 | 3.8 | 9.8 | 5.8 | 20.8 |
| 29 | Middlesbrough | North East | 1.8 | 3.2 | 8.6 | 6.6 | 20.2 |
| 30 | London | London | 6.2 | 5.6 | 3.2 | 5 | 20.0 |
| 31 | Manchester | North West | 4.2 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 9.4 | 18.8 |
| 32 | Aberdeen | Scotland | 7.6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 18.6 |
| 33 | Gloucester | South West | 4 | 4.2 | 6.4 | 3.6 | 18.2 |
| 34 | Salford | North West | 3.2 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 9.8 | 17.8 |
| 35 | Stoke-on-Trent | West Midlands | 3.8 | 4.2 | 8.4 | 1.4 | 17.8 |
| 36 | Manchester | North West | 4.2 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 9.4 | 17.6 |
| 37 | Stirling | Scotland | 9.8 | 4.6 | 1 | 1.6 | 17.0 |
| 38 | Birmingham | West Midlands | 2.4 | 1.2 | 7 | 6 | 16.6 |
| 39 | Bradford | Yorkshire | 3.4 | 6.6 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 16.6 |
| 40 | Swansea | Wales | 7.8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 15.8 |
| 41 | Sunderland | North East | 3 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 15.0 |
| 42 | Southampton | South East | 2.6 | 2.6 | 7.6 | 2.2 | 15.0 |
| 43 | Liverpool | North West | 2 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 12.8 |
| 44 | Brighton and Hove | South East | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 12.6 |
| 45 | Newport | Wales | 2.2 | 1 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 11.0 |
| 46 | Blackpool | North West | 1.2 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 6.6 |
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Methodology
The surveys
The business leader survey was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 251 Business Leaders (aged 29+). The data was collected between 14.03.2025 - 17.03.2025. The Gen Z survey was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 1,001 Gen Z (age 17-28) that have aspirations to start a business in the next 5 years. The data was collected between 14.03.2025 - 17.03.2025.
The best start-up locations index
The index combine data from various government data sources: Business closures, active businesses, 5-year business survival rates were all taken from Business Demography UK, released in November 2024: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable
The following tables were used:
- Table 2.1d - Count Of Deaths Of New Enterprises For 2021, 2022 and 2023 by District, Counties And Unitary Authorities Within Region And Country
- Table 3.1d - Count Of Active Enterprises For 2021, 2022 and 2023 by District, Counties And Unitary Authorities Within Region And Country
- Table 5.1a - Survival Of Newly Born Enterprises District, Counties And Unitary Authorities Within Region And Country By Births Of Units In 2018 And Their Survival
Gigabit capable broadband data was taken from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics/indicators/gigabit-capable-broadband
Average annual growth of GDHI was taken from https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics/indicators/gigabit-capable-broadband using the following table:
- Table 5: GDHI local authority by ITL1 region: annual growth in total GDHI, percentage
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Licence: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/University founders' data
This data was collected manually from LinkedIn during February 2025, taking the following information from University alumni pages:
- University
- University town/city
- Listed alumni on LinkedIn
- Listed 'founders' alumni
- Founders that studied a business degree (Business Admin & Management & Business/commerce general)
- Listed 'Owners' alumni
- Owners that studied a business degree (Business Admin & Management & Business/commerce general)
Universities with the most students studying business and student start-ups
This data was taken from HESA:
- Student start-ups: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/providers/business-community/table-4e.csv
- Student start-ups- Table 4e - Intellectual property: Spin-out activities by HE provider: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/providers/business-community/table-4e.csv
- Students studying business- Table 49 - HE student enrolments by HE provider and subject of study: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-49.csv
- Table 52 - HE student enrolments by subject of study and permanent address: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
Gen Z business leaders
This data was obtained through an FOI request. The data shows the total number of companies incorporated between 01/04/2018 and 31/03/2024 that had a Gen Z director (born 1997-2012) appointed on the day of incorporation.
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