Liverpool most entrepreneurial city, shows new survey

Liverpool has been voted the most entrepreneurial city, with a startup population of 16 per cent, according to new data from Companies House by Instant Offices. The research looked at the startup population of each city and compared it with the overall population.

Liverpool was found to have the highest population of startups, with over 57,000 new businesses being formed over the past two years. Birmingham was next with a start-up population of 14.5 per cent, with Manchester close behind at 14 per cent.

Flexible workspace

The figures were found to be way above the UK average of 2 per cent, even surpassing London’s entrepreneurial population of 7.5 per cent.

Instant Group Chief Executive Tim Rodber, whose company provides services to help businesses manage workspace, said that the company has seen a “resurgence in demand” from the regions in the past year.

“Enquiries for flexible workspace in the regions were nearly a quarter up on the previous year and a lot of this demand was driven by one to two desks enquiries, which is indicative of startups,” he said.

Strong demand

Rodber stated that the strongest demand for workspace has come from large cities outside of London, adding that Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh are “outperforming the capital.”

He said that small and medium-sized enterprises are “hungry” for workspace in these areas, but that there are also requirements for larger space, which means that corporates are “setting up teams to cater for project work and serve the regional markets.”

Whilst enquiries for flexible office space was up 21 per cent in the UK and 39 per cent in the regions, the number of enquiries for non-flexible office space was much lower, which Rodber said suggests that businesses are in need of space to grow but do not yet want to commit to leased offices.