Cambridge, well known as a technology focused business hub, pipped long-time rival Oxford (2nd) to head the survey. While other major cities also rank highly – namely Edinburgh (3rd), Reading (7th), Bristol (9th) and York (13th) – a number of smaller conurbations have also placed well, including Crawley (4th), Worthing (5th), Aldershot (8th), Solihull (10th) and Stockport (14th).
The study, commissioned by Santander Corporate & Commercial banking and authored by Francis Greene, Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Birmingham Business School at the University of Birmingham, also looked at 32 London boroughs against the same criteria – ranking Westminster in first place.
| Overall top five ranked towns and cities, and London boroughs | ||
| Rank | Town/cities | London boroughs |
| 1 | Cambridge | Westminster |
| 2 | Oxford | Kensington and Chelsea |
| 3 | Edinburgh | Richmond-upon-Thames |
| 4 | Crawley | Camden |
| 5 | Worthing | Islington |
| Source: Santander UK Town and City Index |
Criteria for the report were based around five central ‘domains’: Enterprise, Talent, Connectivity, Costs and Well-being. These were selected as being fundamental ‘building blocks’ for business success.
The Enterprise domain, for example, which accounted for the largest weighting in the index, used nine measures to assess business vitality and sustainability including: business stock per 10,000 of working population; business start-ups per 10,000 of working population; five-year business survival rate; private sector employment density; and job density (total number of jobs/resident working population in area).
| Individual domains - top three ranked cities and towns (excl. London) | |||||
| Rank | Enterprise | Talent | Connectivity | Costs | Well-being |
| 1 | Cambridge | Cambridge | Edinburgh | Luton | Crawley |
| 2 | Aldershot | York | Worthing | Birmingham | Aldershot |
| 3 | Solihull | Oxford | Grimsby | Chatham | Aberdeen |
| Source: Santander UK Town and City Index |
Francis Greene, Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, said: “Favourable business conditions are found across different geographic parts of the UK as well as different boroughs in London, though some conurbations clearly have more business momentum than others. Many are making investments in education, infrastructure or transport to foster business success and this is to be applauded.
“While Cambridge ranks top overall and also in terms of Talent – and a large part of this is due to the world-class teaching at the University of Cambridge – it should be noted that many places rank highly in selected domains. Luton, Birmingham and Chatham are rated highly for Costs, while Crawley, Aldershot and Aberdeen head the Well-being domain. It is important to focus on factors such as these: personal well-being, for instance, has a positive impact as places with higher earnings, better employment and, arguably, more satisfied people are more likely to enjoy more favourable business conditions.”
Marcelino Castrillo, Head of SME, Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “The future of the UK economy depends on its businesses and their success and growth. It is vital that all stakeholders in this endeavour encourage and foster business growth – the UK economy is, after all, the aggregate of our businesses. The more vibrant and successful they are, the more vibrant and successful we all are.
“Santander is passionate about working with British businesses to help them meet their aspirations. Our focus is on the relationships we are able to build with our business customers, and we hope that this report will help us further develop our understanding of how a business’s needs differ from region to region and how we can tailor our support and local contacts and networks accordingly.”
(1) Santander UK Town and City Index – full report can be found at http://businessinsight.santandercb.co.uk/in-the-media
(2) The report does not discuss, analyse or make reference to towns and cities with regards to the size and influence of public sector organisations and public sector employment
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.
Santander Corporate & Commercial provides dedicated relationship banking support to businesses with a turnover of more than £250,000 through the bank’s 33 regional corporate business centres located across the UK. It is part of Santander UK plc, a full-service retail and commercial bank providing services to 25 million customers, with more than 1,300 branches. Santander UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, managed autonomously, with its own local management team. Santander UK is firmly focused on the UK with c. 99% of customer assets UK-related. Sovereign exposures to Europe (excluding UK) as at June 2012 are not significant at less than 1% of total assets and primarily relate to the Swiss government. Total exposure to periphery countries is less than c. 0.5% of total assets.
Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a presence in 10 main markets. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.418 trillion in managed funds, 102 million customers, 14,569 branches – more than any other international bank – and 187,000 employees at the close of June 2012. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America. Furthermore, it has significant positions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Poland and the U.S. northeast. Santander Consumer Finance operates in the Group’s core markets as well as in the Nordic region.
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