Leeds named as best place in the UK to start a business, here's why

Based on research spanning three years Leeds was ranked as the best venue to launch a company due to its affodability and skill set.

The research looked at a range of factors including start-up costs, talent pool size, broadband quality and rent costs when seeking to reveal which cities are the best for start-up businesses.

The business sector price data, produced by Bark.com, also included accounting, recruitment, IT support, website creation and management, marketing, SEO, and internet and phone providers.

When compiling the list, the site also took into account a city’s ‘business appeal’.

The findings come after Leeds secured its successful bid to become the new home of Channel 4 and saw its tech and legal sectors grow at some of the fastest rates in the UK.

Based on the criteria, the results reveal that Leeds is the best city to start a business, followed by Cardiff and Liverpool.

In terms of average launch costs Leeds was calculated to come in at £15,550, just ahead of Cardiff on £15.725. By way of comparison London was rated as having start-up costs of £75,990.

Kai Feller, co-founder of Bark.com said: “When it comes to starting a business, choosing where to set up shop is always one of your first decisions. For decades, London has been the obvious choice for new businesses, however, we’re seeing that more and more people are opting to start their enterprise outside of the capital.

“Like Manchester and Birmingham, Leeds is fast becoming recognised as a business hotspot, so it’s not a surprise that it tops our list. It’s great to see the North of England getting the business accolade it deserves.”

Elsewhere Ripon was named among the worst cities to start a company, coming in seventh position. Its ranking was attributed to a combination of poor talent pool size, high rent and service provider costs or poor broadband.

Here is the full top 10 cities list:

1) Leeds - £15,5502) Cardiff - £15,7253) Liverpool - £15,744 4) Bristol - £16,0135) Swansea - £16,0826) Newcastle - £16,150 7) Birmingham - £16,3688) Manchester - £17,1299) Edinburgh - £17,174 10) London - £75,990