Boom town: City among UK’s best for start-ups
MANCHESTER is England’s top city outside of London for start-ups, a major new survey has revealed.
A new report out from Barclays Eagle Labs and Beauhurst lists the top UK cities for the number of highgrowth businesses outside of the capital, with the North West city coming second to only Edinburgh.
The ‘Unlocking Growth’ report aimed to identify the key to generating growth by exploring the importance of public and private sector partnerships in creating strong local technology ecosystems in which businesses can start and scale successfully.
That was alongside universities, accelerator programmes and business incubators, coupled with investment sources such as angel or private equity investors.
Manchester came second in the list for the number of high-growth businesses outside of London, with 508 calling the city home – 209 of which were tech companies.
Jon Hope, director of Eagle Labs, a national network providing business incubation, mentoring and coworking, said: “Our mission at Barclays Eagle Labs is to help support entrepreneurs and high-growth start-ups by providing them the tools they need to grow their business and by bringing together a range of actors to help nurture and grow local tech ecosystems.
“Every region in the UK has the presence of at least one high-growth technology cluster. However, data from Beauhurst found that seven out of the top ten local authorities by number of high-growth tech companies were in London. We hope that with support from networks like Eagle Labs, towns and cities throughout the country can reap the benefits that strong local tech ecosystems can provide.”
The report looked at the ‘critical’ role tech ecosystems play in supporting high-growth firms and boosting local economies.