Northampton, Kettering and Eastbourne took the top three spots for the towns; while Leicester, Brighton and Hove, and Southampton led the most entrepreneurial cities.

According to Companies House, more than 340,000 new businesses were registered between January and June 2021, amounting to 80 new businesses per hour; an increase of 32% versus 2019. 

Intrigued by this surge in startups, Superscript used data gathered by the Office for National Statistics to compare the total number of businesses per town and city in 2020 to the same figure for 2021. They then cross-referenced these insights with the government’s latest population data to generate a ‘businesses per capita’ score for each location, allowing Superscript to pinpoint the 10 most entrepreneurial towns and cities, respectively. 

With ‘The Great Resignation’ sweeping across the UK, largely influenced by the estimated 11.6 million jobs that were affected by the government’s furlough scheme, this has prompted many workers to re-assess their short and long-term priorities, becoming a catalyst for a boom in entrepreneurship. 

“In tough times, innovation often blossoms, and that is definitely what we have witnessed over the past year, with many employees reassessing their professional and personal goals and opting to start their own businesses using their skills and passions,” said Cameron Shearer, Co-founder and CEO of Superscript. 

“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 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 underappreciated for all that they offer to entrepreneurs and businesses - as well as all the talented entrepreneurs they contain!” 

Superscript provides flexible, monthly cover for small UK businesses nationwide, spanning thousands of business types.

Top 10 most entrepreneurial towns in order of position (1-10): Northampton, Kettering, Eastbourne, Chesterfield, Chorley, Maidstone, Horsham, Oldham, Barnsley, Blackpool 

Top 10 most entrepreneurial cities in order of position (1-10): Leicester, Brighton and Hove, Southampton, Peterborough, Manchester, Gloucester, Preston, Cardiff, Sunderland, Carlisle