In a week or so’s time, Informi will be revealing which town or city was consistently the best over the course of the 2010s to start a small business.
As we continue our build-up, we are taking a look back on each year over the past decade, both in business and in the wider world. After the glories of the summer of 2012, how did 2013 compare?
2013 in focus: More sporting triumph, this time at SW19
As with the previous year’s Olympics, the biggest story of the year was arguably from the world of sport. Andy Murray, whose own gold medal at the London Games was somewhat overshadowed by the achievements of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis et al, finally captured the title craved above all others – the men’s singles championship at Wimbledon. He was the first male Briton to win the championship in 77 years.
Elsewhere, a review of green energy taxes was commissioned after it was felt that household bills had been pushed up to ‘unacceptable’ levels. The UK lost its coveted AAA rating for the first time since 1978, while the clampdown on payday loan firms began, with the Office of Fair Trading giving the top 50 companies 12 weeks to change their lending practices. The year also saw the death of controversial former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Where was it best to start a business in 2013?
While 2012 winner York slipped to fifth in our Best Place To Start A Small Business research, focusing on seven criteria that help small businesses to thrive, it was Northampton that took place in 2013. It was again Reading and Brighton who filled positions two and three, albeit in the reverse order to 2012.
Northampton’s success was primarily because it had the fifth-highest number of business start-ups (per 10,000 population) during 2013, moving up from tenth place in this same category the year before.
The Top 10 Best Places To Start A Business In The UK 2013
(change from last year’s position in brackets)
| UK town/city | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Northampton (+10) |
| 2. | Reading (+1) |
| 3. | Brighton (-1) |
| 4. | Cambridge (+10) |
| 5. | York (-4) |
| 6. | Bournemouth (+2) |
| 7. | London (0) |
| 8. | Aberdeen (-4) |
| 9. | Edinburgh (0) |
| 10. | Bristol (+2) |
Next up – we will be looking back at 2014 as we near the midpoint in our countdown towards finding out where the Best Place To Start A Small Business across the past decade was.
