London and Manchester best hubs for high-growth small businesses

London and Manchester have been named as the best hubs for high-growth small businesses (HGSBs) by Octopus Investments. The company listed 32 of the top cities for HGSBs in the Urban Hub League Table.

The cities were ranked on the factors that small businesses believe are the most important to them when scaling and growing, such as talent and connectivity and access to finance.

HGSBs are businesses with more than 20 per cent annual average growth in turnover in three years and a turnover of between £1 million and £20 million.

Majority

The report found that the majority of UK cities are hotspots for HGSBs, with London being ranked as the top city. Manchester came in second, followed by Cardiff and Edinburgh. Liverpool also ranked highly for its affordable location costs, strong job creation forecast and transport links.

Also on the list was Cambridge, which came in at number ten. The city is home to 199 HGSBs, with one in 13 workers employed by a HGSB.

The locations that ranked the lowest on the table were Hull, Middlesbrough, York and Newcastle, which fell into the bottom ten.

Potential

Octopus Investments CEO Simon Rogerson commented on the findings, stating that it is “exciting” to see that there are towns and cities across the UK that have the potential to support the next generation of HGSBs and benefit from “the HGSB effect.”

He added that HGSBs are “vital to our economic prosperity” and that there is “untapped opportunity in every corner of the UK.”