Peterborough is the 13th BEST city in the UK for independent businesses, new index data reveals!
Posted: 11/01/2022
There has been a massive growth in small businesses across the UK over the past five years. More than 800,000 new business registrations have been made since 2018/19 – but this impressive 3.5% increase in growth unfortunately slowed down due to the pandemic and lockdowns began at the start of 2020.
However, as the end of 2021 is drawing in and we work our way towards a new normal, business experts at Bionic, wanted to help local UK businesses get a running start to their 2022. Bionic has created an index using nine different business metrics to reveal; which UK city has the strongest independent economy, where small businesses can thrive – and Peterborough takes 13th place!
Peterborough is the 13th best city for independent businesses in the UK
| Ranking | UK City | No. of start-ups per 10,000 population | 5 year business survival rate | % of new businesses started | % of business closures | % of active SMEs | Business density* | % of population commuting by foot | % of unemployed benefit claims | Cost of office space (per m2) | Total index score(out of 100) |
| 1 | Southampton | 78.6 | 42.0% | 21.4% | 10.1% | 92.0% | 372 | 12.6% | 6.0% | £114.00 | 74.4 |
| 2 | York | 45.1 | 47.7% | 12.2% | 9.8% | 88.5% | 505 | 17.7% | 3.5% | £98.00 | 70.0 |
| 3 | Bristol | 55.9 | 42.8% | 13.7% | 11.2% | 89.3% | 343 | 14.2% | 5.4% | £100.00 | 65.6 |
| 4 | Northampton | 89 | 33.3% | 17.9% | 11.4% | 90.9% | 517 | 10.4% | 7.1% | £70.00 | 63.8 |
| 5 | Swindon | 50 | 44.4% | 13.2% | 11.0% | 91.2% | 454 | 9.5% | 5.7% | £100.00 | 63.6 |
| 6 | Reading | 66.2 | 46.1% | 13.9% | 11.3% | 90.5% | 260 | 10.9% | 4.9% | £114.00 | 63.3 |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 53 | 45.7% | 12.1% | 10.8% | 90.1% | 1058 | 9.5% | 6.2% | £100.00 | 63.1 |
| 8 | Cambridge | 54.9 | 44.8% | 12.2% | 10.5% | 87.7% | 355 | 14.6% | 4.1% | £113.00 | 61.6 |
| 9 | Leeds | 52.6 | 42.9% | 12.2% | 10.8% | 89.3% | 750 | 11.3% | 6.9% | £98.00 | 61.1 |
| 10 | Edinburgh | 55 | 42.1% | 12.9% | 11.4% | 89.0% | 481 | 16.3% | 5.0% | £124.67 | 58.9 |
| 11 | Leicester | 58.9 | 39.8% | 15.8% | 11.5% | 88.0% | 279 | 12.9% | 6.5% | £70.00 | 58.2 |
| 12 | Portsmouth | 49.9 | 41.0% | 17.2% | 11.4% | 90.2% | 382 | 10.9% | 5.9% | £114.00 | 58.2 |
| 13 | Peterborough | 67.2 | 40.9% | 16.3% | 11.0% | 90.9% | 511 | 8.5% | 7.6% | £113.00 | 57.1 |
| 14 | Slough | 79.6 | 43.5% | 15.8% | 11.6% | 91.3% | 461 | 9.2% | 8.6% | £114.00 | 56.4 |
| 15 | Coventry | 43.6 | 44.6% | 13.8% | 12.0% | 91.0% | 327 | 10.9% | 6.7% | £102.00 | 55.6 |
Peterborough ranks in 13th place with a score of 57 out of 100 in our index of the best cities for independents, proving to be a great city to start your own business! The data showed that Peterborough had an incredible 511 active businesses per 10,000 population and a whopping 90.9% active small businesses in the UK.
Although Peterborough is great for small businesses, renting a business space in this city will cost hopeful business owners an average of £113 per m2 – so you will need some savings set aside to set up shop in this city!
The UK towns and cities with the biggest growth in new businesses in the past five years
Across the UK the rise in small businesses has increased and Peterborough is among the UK cities with the highest growth in new business within the past five years, with a 40.9% survival rate.
Peterborough is home to some amazing independent businesses, such as ‘Style’ selling beautiful pieces of jewellery and accessories and ‘Swanky Rags’ an occasion wear store, popular for wedding and bridesmaid dresses!
You can read the full report here.
-ENDS-
About Bionic
Bionic is a comparison service for business, a one-stop shop for all the essential services SMEs need. Bionic’s tech-enabled experts match business owners with tailored business energy, insurance, connectivity, and finance solutions from their panel of trusted UK providers, suppliers and products.
Methodology
This index looks at the 50 largest cities in the UK (where data was available*). The index is made up of 9 different metrics that cover aspects of an ‘Indie Economy’. The metrics analysed were:
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Business start-ups per 10,000 population 2019
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Five year survival rate
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Births of new businesses as a proportion of total active businesses (2019)
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Deaths on new business as a proportion of total active businesses (2019
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% of small active businesses
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Active businesses 10,000 population (business density)
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Commuting on foot (%)
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Unemployment claimant count rate November 2020 (%)
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Rateable value per m2 of floor space
These metrics were then indexed with a score between 1 and 50, 50 being given to the city with the best score for each metric. These index scores were then added together to give a total index and therefore indicate which city is the best for the UK Indie Economy.
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