The Berkshire town of Reading has taken the seventh spot on our list to find the Best Place To Start A Small Business In The UK.
Each day over this fortnight, Informi is counting down from ten to one the top spots for entrepreneurs to base themselves, and our top ten so far is offering a mixture of large and small locations from Bristol to Warrington.
But Reading has consistently performed well in Informi’s previous Best Places list and finished sixth in our 2016 study. It falls just one place short of that this year.
Household names at home in Reading
Where can Reading improve?
Readers of our blogs so far will notice a pattern emerging – the more attractive a place is for setting up a small business, the lower down our league tables it appears for affordability of property.
And Reading is no different. Buying a house will set the average resident back 11.77 times their average salary – a statistic that only seven places have worse figures for – meaning that if you’re not already based there, it could cost you and indeed your future employees if you intend to stick around.
For a town bustling with technology solutions, Reading’s 34th position in digital connectivity is also a little low. The town has ultrafast broadband coverage of 77.56%, well behind the likes of Luton, Portsmouth, Brighton and others – all of whom post coverage percentages in the 90s.
At home in Reading
Sue Brackley works as economics development manager for Reading UK CIC, the economic development company for the area. She said: “Reading has a compelling offer to business and investors.
“We have a really balanced economy, with a lot of sectors doing well across the local area, and a very mature business eco-system. Many of our start-ups support, and in return are supported by, the mature, larger, businesses in Reading.
“Because we also benefit from one of the highest salary rates in the UK, small artisanal businesses also do really well as people are happy to spend disposable income on quality food and drink offers.”
We’re steadily closing in on finding out who will be crowned in our Best Places list – and keep an eye on our blog site as we reveal the list in reverse order. Tomorrow we find out who’s in sixth place…
The Top 10 Best Places To Start A Business In The UK 2018
| UK town/city | |
|---|---|
| 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. | |
| 7. | Reading |
| 8. | Bristol |
| 9. | Aldershot |
| 10. | Warrington |
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