There has been a massive growth in small businesses across the UK over the past five years. More than 800,000 new business registrations have been made since 2018/19 – but this impressive 3.5% increase in growth, unfortunately, slowed down due to the pandemic and lockdowns began at the start of 2020.
However, as the end of 2021 is drawing in and we work our way towards a new normal, business experts at Bionic, wanted to help local UK businesses get a running start to their 2022. Bionic has created an index using nine different business metrics to reveal; which UK city has the strongest independent economy, where small businesses can thrive – and Swindon takes fifth place!
Swindon is the fifth-best town for independent businesses in the UK
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Ranking  |
UK City |
No. of start-ups per 10,000 population |
5 year business survival rate |
% of new businesses started |
% of business closures |
% of active SMEs |
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|
1 |
Southampton |
78.6 |
42.0% |
21.4% |
10.1% |
92.0% |
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|
2 |
York |
45.1 |
47.7% |
12.2% |
9.8% |
88.5% |
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|
3 |
Bristol |
55.9 |
42.8% |
13.7% |
11.2% |
89.3% |
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|
4 |
Northampton |
89 |
33.3% |
17.9% |
11.4% |
90.9% |
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|
5 |
Swindon |
50 |
44.4% |
13.2% |
11.0% |
91.2% |
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|
6 |
Reading |
66.2 |
46.1% |
13.9% |
11.3% |
90.5% |
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|
7 |
Bournemouth |
53 |
45.7% |
12.1% |
10.8% |
90.1% |
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|
8 |
Cambridge |
54.9 |
44.8% |
12.2% |
10.5% |
87.7% |
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|
9 |
Leeds |
52.6 |
42.9% |
12.2% |
10.8% |
89.3% |
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|
10 |
Edinburgh |
55 |
42.1% |
12.9% |
11.4% |
89.0% |
Swindon ranks in fifth place with a score of 64 out of 100 in our index of the best cities for independents, proving to be a great place to set up shop! The data also showed that Swindon had an incredible 454 active businesses per 10,000 population and great new business startups, analysed at 13.2%.
Swindon is also among the UK cities with the cheapest value for office floor space. Renting a business space in Swindon costs hopeful business owners an average of £100 per m2 – appealing for startups when money can be a key factor!
The UK towns and cities with the biggest growth in new businesses in the past five years
Across the UK the rise in small businesses has increased and Swindon ranks in 6th for the highest growth in new business within the past five years, with a 44.4% survival rate.
Small businesses are popping up all over Swindon, such as ‘Eskape Hairdressers’ and ‘Positive Pressures’ a specialist sports massage business, to name a few.
You can read the full report here.
