SOUTHAMPTON is one of the UK’s most entrepreneurial cities, according to a report which says the “great resignation” is driving people to set up their own businesses.
The number of small businesses with up to 49 employees in Southampton grew by 470, or six per cent, in 2020-21.
The city is the UK’s third most entrepreneurial, behind Leicester and Brighton and Hove, according to research by the SME insurance provider Superscript. It used Office for National Statistics data, cross-referenced against population figures, to generate a “business per capita” score for each city.
Superscript says a boom in entrepreneurship has been fuelled by the “great resignation” – the trend for people to quit jobs after re-evaluating their priorities during furlough and flexible working.
Cameron Shearer, co-founder and chief executive of Superscript, said: “While the past year may not have seemed like an obvious time to launch a new business, it appears that furlough, reduced hours, and other factors such as working from home have spurred many employees to reassess their professional and personal goals.
“Given the spike we saw in young companies coming to us for flexible and bespoke insurance cover over lockdown, and the entrepreneurial spirit flooding the nation, we wanted to identify the cities that have seen the highest growth in small businesses.
“By plotting these new venture hotspots, including Southampton, on a map for people to see and share, we’re able to highlight and celebrate those towns and cities across the UK that are perhaps under-appreciated for all that they offer to entrepreneurs and businesses – as well as all the talented entrepreneurs they contain.”
The findings were released ahead of Global Entrepreneurship Week, which runs from November 8-12.
According to Companies House, more than 340,000 new businesses were registered in the UK from January to June 2021, amounting to 80 new businesses per hour.
The rest of the top 10 most entrepreneurial cities consisted of Peterborough, Manchester, Gloucester, Preston, Sunderland, Cardiff, and Carlisle.
The map of the most entrepreneurial towns and cities can be found at gosuperscript.com/most-entrepreneurial-locations/
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