Salford outperforms London as the UK’s hotspot for startup growth in 2017

Research by DueDil, the company information platform, has revealed that Salford is the one to watch, producing 1,393 new startups in the first quarter of this year. Beating major UK cities, Salford experienced an impressive startup growth rate of 85.49% for the same period in 2016.

The news was welcomed by Stephen Wild, managing director of MediaCityUK, which is home to a number of business clusters such as The Landing and The Greenhouse, helping to create an environment for startups.

Stephen said: “We have long recognised the innovation which happens here in Salford and it’s really great to see this being shown to a wider audience.

“At MediaCityUK, we have been working with a whole host of startups. Since we opened The Pie Factory in 2007, and as other spaces such as The Landing, The Greenhouse and more recently Tomorrow have opened, we have seen this go from strength to strength.

“What’s really exciting is the spread we are seeing – naturally we attract startups in TV and media, because of the strong opportunities to collaborate with companies such as dock10, BBC and ITV, and this is a real bonus.”

He added: “But we also work with startups across a range of other sectors; recent examples include the medical technology sector, where we launched a digital health initiative with PwC.

“We are also seeing an increase in gaming companies, people working in virtual and augmented reality, and fashion startups. This plethora of creatives makes MediaCityUK and Salford a really exciting place to be.”

Following in second place was Leicester, which experienced a healthy startup growth rate of 34.45% YoY. Joining Salford and Leicester in the top 5 for UK’s startup growth hotspots are Norwich, Liverpool, and Oxford.

London experienced a modest startup growth rate of 5.12% YoY. However, despite failing to clinch a spot in the top five for startup growth, London continued to produce more startups than anywhere else in the UK, with 57,235 new companies starting up in the capital in the first quarter of 2017.

Despite comparatively slower growth, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Leeds are the top producers of startups during the period of January to March 2017.

Overall 173,100 new companies started up in the UK between January and March 2017, representing an overall decrease from the same period in 2016.

Justin Fitzpatrick, COO and Co-Founder of DueDil said, “Interestingly, just a handful of the UK’s major cities made the overall top 20 for startup growth, with cities such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds all absent from the top rankings, suggesting that they are slowly losing their grip on their status as the UK’s startup growth.” He added, “The overall decrease in startup growth across the UK, is perhaps demonstrating a cautious attitude towards enterprise with Brexit looming. Banks and alternative finance providers have an opportunity to play a role in growth through investment.”