Exeter – a good place for start-up businesses
Published: 16 December 2020
Businesses starting up in Exeter are more likely to survive than anywhere else in the UK – apart from Bath – according to a recent survey.
Experts from online magazine startupgeeks found that Exeter had the second best five-year survival rate for start up businesses in the UK.
Only Bath, with a 50% survival rate, fared better than Exeter’s 46%.
Exeter also came out as one of the cheapest places in the UK to set up a business. The city ranked 9th cheapest according to set up costs (salaries and office space combined), with Sunderland and Canterbury being the cheapest.
Victoria Hatfield, Growth & Commercialisation Manager for Exeter City Council, said it was no surprise that the city was performing well. This she said was down to a number of key contributory factors, including having an award–winning University and College close by.
“Start-up businesses in Exeter have always had strong support from a number of organisations such as the City Council, the Heart of the South West Growth Hub and the Business & IP Centre at Exeter Library, but also through award-winning business support programmes like SetSquared,” she said.
“The level of support, along with highly effective ultra and superfast broadband, low business costs and new and exciting business spaces such as Exeter Science Park, The Generator and The Mount, has allowed business to thrive, ensuring a high business survival rate for start ups in the city,” she added.
StartupsGeek.com reviewed data from cost of office space to average internet speed to find out which city is the best in the UK to start a business.
Overall that accolade went to Canterbury, with a start-up cost of £757,167 and a five-year survival rate of 41%.
The full study is available here: https://www.startupsgeek.com/uk-startup-business-data/