Number of new companies in the city rises by 95% during last financial year.
Birmingham has delivered the biggest growth in start-ups of all UK core cities, attracting a 95% increase in new companies during the last financial year.
The city is also still home to more new companies than any other regional destination, according to analysis of Bureau van Dijk’s FAME database.
Nearly 13,000 companies were set up in the city during 2014/15, compared with 6,640 the previous year – a 95% increase. This growth outstrips all other UK cities; Bristol was the second most successful city, with an increase of 83%, followed by Manchester with 77%. London was fifth, with a 70% rise.
The findings reflect Birmingham’s reputation as an entrepreneurial hotspot. The city has the most incubator programmes in the UK outside London, and has doubled its number of accelerator programmes in just two years, as highlighted by research from Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica.
Birmingham also recorded the highest number of start-ups outside London. A total of 175,385 new companies were registered in the capital during 2014/15, followed by Birmingham with 12,972 and Manchester with 7,516.
Support for start-ups in the city and its surrounding areas includes facilities and mentoring offered through the Greater Birmingham Growth Hub and its partners across the public and private sectors.
The Growth Hub – which is run by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP –provides a single point of access for local SMEs and start-ups wanting business advice, access to finance and support.
Growth Hub Manager Ian Mclaughlan commented: “The Greater Birmingham Growth Hub is attracting more enquiries about starting a company than any other topic. It is clear that Greater Birmingham is full of ambitious potential entrepreneurs that want to set up, and grow, a successful business.
“The economic strength of this region relies on new companies establishing secure and sustainable plans for growth. By coordinating the support available to these firms, the Growth Hub enables our start-ups to access the guidance they need to realise their full potential.”
