Best Places to Start a Business - Revealed

The coronavirus pandemic has halted our bustling way of life as we know it. Since the lockdown was announced on 23rd March 2020, many businesses remain closed with large numbers of staff either working from home or furloughed.

The past 3 months have arguably been one of the greatest economic shocks of our lifetime, possibly even in our history. There is much speculation that we could be about to enter a world-wide recession at best, and global depression, at worst. According to data from the Enterprise Research Centre, the number of new companies dropped by 23 per cent in March, with 21,000 UK businesses collapsing compared to the same month last year.

It’s difficult to keep upbeat at a time like this, and perhaps even harder to stay motivated. The impact of the pandemic is substantial and it will continue to affect businesses, families and individuals for a long time thereafter.

Despite this, it has previously been proven that economic downturns can in fact fuel things for the better. Looking back to the infamous recession of 2008, evidence shows a number of startups flourishing. Household names such as Whatsapp, Instagram, Uber and Groupon were all founded either during or very soon after the economic crisis.

What’s more is that the UK is becoming increasingly more entrepreneurial, with figures showing there were 672,890 startups in the financial year 2018-19. High Speed Training’s own research shows that the desire to be entrepreneurial is particularly prevalent among the 41-55 age bracket.

With this in mind, it’s so important to keep faith. As a training provider, we’re always encouraging our learners to develop and keep on the lookout for new opportunities - they may indeed come when you least expect it.

Looking for inspiration? Head over to High Speed Training’s course library where you’ll find completely online training to develop your communication, enhance your organisation skills, improve your leadership or take some time to dedicate to your mental health and wellbeing.

We were inspired by the growing number of UK startups and decided to see if we could anticipate where the next generation of startups might be brewing.

We compiled data from the Office of National Statistics, looking at the business birth rates over the 8 year period between 2011-2018, to see which places in the UK are best for those budding business start ups.

Take a look at the UK’s homepreneur hotspots below.

According to ONS data, perhaps unsurprisingly, London and the South East has been revealed as the entrepreneurial hotspot of the UK, with 39 per cent of the businesses born in the UK over the last eight years originating in the region.

However, the North West is the second most entrepreneurial area with 1-in-10 UK businesses established in the region. Closely following is the East of England (9 per cent) and West Midlands (8 per cent).

Although the strongest start-up activity is in the South East, cities further north such as Manchester and Birmingham have seen increasing growth throughout the last decade.

Despite the grim forecasts of looming recessions, it is so important to keep a lookout for nuggets of positivity and focus on those. It does seem that humans try to make the best of a bad situation. Interestingly, High Speed Training has also seen a 61 per cent increase in the number of people completing its Starting a Business course over the last six weeks compared to the same period last year.

Dr. Richard Anderson, our Head of Learning & Development has some words to the wise to help keep our spirits up during this time:

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