‘How Bristol outperforms London’

The estate agent’s mantra “location, location, location” is as applicable to entrepreneurs as to house-hunters, since geography can be a key success factor when setting up or growing a business.

London may well be one of the world’s financial centres and home to ‘Silicon Roundabout’, but our recent research to identify the UK’s most business-friendly cities found that the capital is no longer the de facto destination for start-ups. In fact, at a time when the government is under pressure to rebalance the economy away from the south-east, Bristol is emerging as a highly attractive alternative in some key respects.

The study analysed various metrics such as start-up survival rate, the price of office space, in-work population and graduate density, to paint a realistic picture of the availability and cost of talent, local infrastructure and business premises across the UK.

While the capital clearly leads the way on several levels; including access to an enviable talent pool due to population density, or the security offered against cyber breaches, there are some metrics which it does fall short on, pulling London’s overall position in the UK’s top ten cities down to fourth. However, with recent news that Bristol itself is poised to become a tech hub of digital specialisms, which could indeed rival the capital, we wanted to look at where Bristol currently outperforms London when it comes to the metrics that matter for business success.

Start-up survival rate

London’s worst metric is its start-up survival rate, with the capital ranked ninth in the study. Inflated property prices and concentrated competition from more established enterprises present considerable challenges to firms looking to sustain growth. Bristol placed considerably higher in fifth place, with over 60 per cent of its start-ups prospering. This is due at least in part to recent regeneration schemes and economic development. Bristol 1: London 0

Cost of office space

Unsurprisingly, London came bottom of the table for affordability, with office space averaging an eye-watering £405 per square foot compared to £220 per square foot in Bristol. Ranked ninth, the historic seaport is still among the UK’s costlier locations for start-ups looking to hang out their shingle. However, this reflects the thriving local economy and abundance of resources available to companies on the doorstep. Notably, Bristol is the only large city in the study where wealth per capita – an indicator of living standards – is higher than the national average. Bristol 2: London 0

Employment rate

London only managed eighth in the rankings for employment, lagging far behind Bristol which, with over 75 per cent of its population in work, secured third place. This echoes the Office of National Statistics’ findings that the South West region has the healthiest employment rates in the country. With a highly skilled workforce drawn from the two universities on its doorstep, Bristol claims to have the largest cluster of computer chip designers and manufacturers outside Silicon Valley, and is poised to meet the demands of growing firms. Bristol 3: London 0

Ultimately it’s impossible to state categorically that any location can guarantee start-up success – just as cities are unique, businesses are too. But with a hat-trick of advantages over the capital, it’s clear that Bristol offers favourable conditions for businesses looking to situate their operations, and its enviable start-up success rate offers confidence for those firms looking to create jobs, products and services that benefit the wider economy.

However, the optimum destination for any business – be it start-up friendly Bristol, cyber-secure London or one of the UK’s other top ten cities – depends on it being able to deliver on those attributes deemed vital to commercial success.  And if that’s Bristol, we look forward to welcoming your business to our growing economy,

Find out how Bristol stacks up against the rest of the UK in this interactive map.

Keith Tilley is executive vice president for global sales & customer services management with Sungard Availability Services.