London’s exorbitant workstation prices and high costs on business insurance policies drove it to 16th position
British entrepreneurs are up to 10 per cent more likely to start a business in January than any other month. However, with a new business, there are many important decisions that need to be made early on, a primary one being where the business should be based.
For a new business, it can be expensive and difficult to find office space especially for businesses operating with only one employee. In the modern age, a common solution is to move into co-working spaces with other, similarly sized companies, as a means to decrease the cost of office space.
MoneySuperMarket analysed and ranked 18 cities across the UK to determine where in the country best caters for entrepreneurs seeking co-working space. There were a number of key factors included in this ranking such as the cost per workstation, business insurance and the number of office spaces available to see which cities are deemed the most desirable places to co-work.
The research found Edinburgh to be the best city for co-working spaces, due to its excellent cost per workstation, strong local broadband speed and low number of business insurance claims. Brighton and Hove, on the other hand ranked last, due to the limited and costly desk space. The results revealed that the cities you should be seriously considering are:
Edinburgh – Surpassing the UK’s capital in terms of number of co-working spaces available with an average 11 available per thousand people. Edinburgh also fared excellently on average cost per desk (£300), local broadband speed (34 mbps), and low business insurance claims noted.
Leeds – With a low average cost per desk (£264) and among the lowest volumes of business insurance claims, Leeds only faltered slightly when it came to availability of spaces available compared with other UK cities with only 8 per thousand people.
Bristol – A growing business centre for those looking for opportunities outside of London, Bristol surprisingly had below average numbers of co-working spaces available (5 per thousand people, 47 overall) but made up for this with its low costs per desk (£266) and speedy broadband.
Northampton – As well as near chart-topping broadband speeds at 36.2 mbps, Northampton has access to the SEMLEP Growth Hub, which offers advice and an extended reach in seeking out worthwhile finance options for anyone looking to start a new business.
Nottingham – Nottingham offers one of the lowest average costs per desk in the country at £218. The Creative Quarter also makes being a start-up business in this area even more attractive, offering grants and funding for tech and life science businesses, including a loan between £500 and £25,000 at a 6 per cent interest rate over five years to start-ups in the area.
The following five cities, which complete the top ten, are below:
| Rank | City | Avg Workstation Rate | No. of co-working spaces | Avg broadband speed (Mbps download speed) |
| 6 | Birmingham | £223.00 | 21 | 28.3 |
| 7 | Glasgow | £256.00 | 13 | 30.8 |
| 8 | Aberdeen | £266.00 | 47 | 36.4 |
| 9 | Belfast | £247.00 | 20 | 32.8 |
| 10 | Milton Keynes | £432.00 | 17 | 35.7 |
Rose Howarth, Head of Business Insurance at MoneySuperMarket, commented:
“MoneySuperMarket have explored the many challenges that new businesses face when setting out, and one of the most crucial of those is choosing the right environment for their business both in terms of office space and geographical location. With the claimed benefits of co-working, understanding where in the UK is best for businesses to set out using these workspaces allows us to understand the market and how to best help them find their business insurance better.”
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