London takes ninth place in Best Places to Start a New Business for 2019-20

London has been named as the ninth best location to start a small business in the UK in a comprehensive study complied by Informi, the website offering free practical advice and support for small businesses.

This year’s study, released ahead of Small Business Saturday, looked at data from the last financial year, focusing on eight different criteria across the 63 largest towns and cities in the UK to determine where had the best environment for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed. Categories included the number of new businesses, current business stock, pollution levels and digital connectivity.

London performed strongly in having high levels of business stock, a highly skilled workforce and a high number of business start-ups in the past year – appearing in the top five in all three categories – but fell five places from the 2018 survey due to high number of business closures and housing affordability issues.

Brighton took the crown for the third time, having topped the study in both the 2016 and 2018 studies, whilst Cambridge rose three places to second and Edinburgh fell one to third.