Sunderland one of best places in UK for start-up businesses

20 December 2020
Sunderland one of best places in UK for start-up businesses

Businesses starting up in Sunderland, the home of Adderstone Group’s Quay West Business Village, have an advantage over those anywhere else in the UK other than Canterbury, according to recent research.

Experts from online magazine Startups Geek found that Sunderland was the second-best city in the whole of the UK to start a business, in a study which ranked the top 40 locations nationwide. Cities scoring lower than Sunderland included London, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Key findings included:

– Sunderland boasted the top accolade of the cheapest place to start a new business.
– In Sunderland, the cost of office space is almost a quarter of London prices.
– Starting a business in Sunderland instead of London would save nearly £350,000 over five years.

StartupsGeek.com, an online platform for creative entrepreneurs and small businesses, reported that Sunderland was helped by having the lowest office rental costs out of all 40 locations.

Adderstone Group’s Quay West Business Village is a leading enterprise space located on the banks of the River Wear, only a mile from Sunderland city centre, where ambitious start-up businesses and global brands mix successfully to utilise 100,000 sq. ft. of creative office and commercial workspace.

Quay West Business Village on the banks of the River Wear

Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Dynamic City, Councillor Rebecca Atkinson, said: “Sunderland was recently announced as the UK’s Smart City 2020 and our City Plan is making us more dynamic, healthy and vibrant. Businesses that start-up here and grow, or the many that choose to locate and invest here, are already very aware of all the advantages that our city can offer. We have a huge programme of private and public investment underway and Sunderland is very much a city that’s always open for business and open to all businesses.”

Laura Foster, ERDF Internship and Enterprise Manager at the University of Sunderland, said: “It’s no surprise to us that Sunderland has ranked high in this poll. It’s a fantastic place to start a business for a number of reasons; not least for the amazing business community and network of support here. As well as a having a wealth of high-quality workspaces, the city has been recently crowned ‘Smart City of the Year’ which recognises the excellent work that the City Council and partners have done to prioritise digital transformation; providing an array of services and creating opportunities for communities and businesses alike.”

As the UK business community attempts to navigate the impact of the global pandemic, Startups Geek created the survey to ask, when the economy and the business world regain some measure of normality, where in the UK would be the best place to start a new business. Their journalists put together their first ever ranking of 40 towns and cities across the UK.

The overall winner was Canterbury, with a start-up cost of £757,167 and a five-year survival rate of 41%, with Sunderland in second.

If you are interested in finding out more about locating your business at Quay West Business Park get in touch with the team here or 0191 269 9944.