Warrington ranked 5th best place in Britain to work for an SME

WARRINGTON has been named the 5th best town or city to work for a small business in Britain, according to new research compiled by iwoca – one of Europe’s largest small business lenders.

iwoca’s annual ‘Top 25 Towns & Cities for SME Jobs’ list, which ranks areas using ONS data on average wage, commute, job density, house price and growth of the number of small businesses, found that in 2023, Glasgow, Salford and Liverpool are the top three areas to consider if you want to work for a small business.

Warrington came in fifth place, up from 9th last year, ranking highly for its short average commuting time and job density. Warrington residents typically spend 25 minutes travelling between work and home, compared to 40 minutes for those living in Greater London. The North West centre also boasts the highest ratio of jobs to workers out of the top 10, with 1.17 jobs available for every individual of working age. As a growing regional hotspot for technology – and home to enterprise hubs such as The Base – Warrington continues to be an attractive place to work and put down roots.

Warrington ranked ahead of other large towns and cities in the North West – such as Preston and Manchester – emerging as a key centre for small businesses. While Salford’s high SME growth and Liverpool’s short commutes earned them second and third place respectively, Warrington climbed four places since last year’s ranking, ahead of large towns and cities.

Manchester, which secured last year’s second place, dropped to 16th, with slower SME growth since 2017 of just 4%. Warrington, by comparison, saw a 9% increase in its number of SMEs over the last five years.
Greater London failed to feature in the top 25 list for the second time, despite traditionally being considered the most important destination for UK jobseekers. While enjoying a high hourly wage, Londoners face among the highest house prices in the UK with median house price of £582,289, and a typical daily commute of 40 minutes. This combination pushes London down the ranking of towns and cities, suggesting workers seeking small business jobs could broaden their search to other parts of the country.

Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director at iwoca, said: “SMEs both nationally and locally, are creating thousands of jobs and providing the goods and services that keep Britain ticking. Job seekers looking for a fulfilling, dynamic career should consider looking beyond large corporations and to the SMEs in communities right across the UK. It is fantastic to see a wide geographical spread in our top 25 list this year, highlighting the range of thriving towns and cities that best support SMEs and their employees.”