WARRINGTON has been ranked the 20th best town or city in the UK for new independent businesses to set up shop.
It comes above Manchester, Preston, Derby – and even London.
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 per cent increase in growth unfortunately slowed down due to the pandemic and the lockdowns which began at the start of 2020.
However, as the end of 2021 was drawing in and the nation worked its way towards a “new normal”, business experts at Bionic, wanted to help local businesses get a running start to their 2022.
They created an index using nine different business metrics to reveal which UK own or city has the strongest independent economy, where small businesses can thrive – and Warrington took 20th place!
The nine factors used were:
Business start-ups per 10,000 population 2019
•Five year survival rate
•Births of new businesses as a proportion of total active businesses (2019)
•Deaths on new business as a proportion of total active businesses (2019
•% of small active businesses
•Active businesses 10,000 population (business density)
•Commuting on foot (%)
•Unemployment claimant count rate November 2020 (%)
•Rateable value per m2 of floor space
These metrics were then indexed with a score between 1 and 50, 50 being given to the town or city with the best score for each metric. These index scores were then added together to give a total index and therefore indicate which city is the best for the UK Indie Economy.
Bionic is a comparison service for business, a one-stop shop for all the essential services SMEs need. Their tech-enabled experts match business owners with tailored business energy, insurance, connectivity, and finance solutions from their panel of trusted UK providers, suppliers and products.
Back in November Warrington BID, the group set up to help regenerate the town centre reported on how an influx of new businesses in Warrington town centre last year helped the face of the high street despite the challenges presented by the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.
Warrington town centre transformed by arrival of new businesses
