Edinburgh ranked among best UK cities to start a business, trumping London

Edinburgh has been ranked as one of the best UK cities to start a business, while London is rated among the worst.
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The research, carried out by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, analysed 25 major UK cities, looking at factors including average salary, cost of office space, number of grants available and even the price of a coffee, to determine which locations are the best for new businesses.

Edinburgh scored a total of 120 out of 200, placing it in the top ten cities, thanks to its high number of business grants and percentage of highly educated workers. It also has one of the fastest average broadband speeds in the country, according to the study.

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Leicester was the English city that ranked highest in the index with a score of 130, placing it second overall. The East Midlands city also has a high number of business grants available from the local council as well as one of the lowest average salaries in the UK, providing cheap access to labour for many start-ups.

Edinburgh scored a total of 120 out of 200, placing it in the top ten cities, thanks to its high number of business grants and percentage of highly educated workers. It also has one of the fastest average broadband speeds in the country, according to the study from Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance.Edinburgh scored a total of 120 out of 200, placing it in the top ten cities, thanks to its high number of business grants and percentage of highly educated workers. It also has one of the fastest average broadband speeds in the country, according to the study from Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance.
Edinburgh scored a total of 120 out of 200, placing it in the top ten cities, thanks to its high number of business grants and percentage of highly educated workers. It also has one of the fastest average broadband speeds in the country, according to the study from Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance.

Norwich and Portsmouth also ranked highly as cities in which to start a business, while Cardiff also featured in the top ten.

However, London was one of the lowest ranked cities for starting a business in. Despite being the city with the highest percentage of highly skilled workers, its high average salary and cost of office space meant it scored 89, placing it 22nd on the list.

Andy Dodd, managing director at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, said: “When it comes to starting up a new business, a lot of people think London is the place to be.

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“While there are definitely a lot of opportunities in the capital, our study shows if you’re looking to start up and scale your business, it’s worth looking further afield when deciding where to locate your new venture.

“One thing we noticed in particular when carrying out our research was the number of grants available to many start-ups across the UK, which can be a great way of injecting much needed cash into a new business.

“Cities in Northern Ireland and Scotland both have at least twice the amount as some cities in England, which is one of the reasons why Belfast and Edinburgh are so high on the list.”

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