Eden and South Lakeland in Cumbria have been ranked in the top 10 best areas for SMEs to grow.
The research, conducted by Qardus, analysed data from the Office of National Statistics to determine where SMEs are thriving and struggling.
The analysis was based on six different factors, including:
- The active enterprise change between 2021-2023
- The change in the count of births of new enterprises 2020-2022
- The change in the count of deaths of new enterprises 2020-2022
- The change of high growth enterprises per 1,000
- The survival rate of SMEs across three to five years
Considering these factors, a process called minimum to maximum normalization was used to convert metrics to a score between 0 and 10, where 0 is the worst score in the range and 10 is the best.
Each metric had a weighting for how much it contributes to the final score, the score was then scaled to a maximum of 100 using the weightings provided.
Eden ranked sixth in the top 10 with a score of 30.44 out of 100 whilst South Lakeland ranks ninth with a score of 31.81 out of 100.
The top spot was claimed by Ceredigion in Wales with a score of 29.03 out of 100. The worst-ranked place for SMEs was Bromsgrove in Worcestershire with a score of 80.75 out of 100.
Suzanne Caldwell, managing director of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “I don’t think it’s a surprise to see either Eden or South Lakeland so far up the list. And it certainly reflects well on Cumbria to have two such high scoring areas. Both are great places to start and run a business and more widely to live.
“We’ve known for a long time that both are entrepreneurial places. Part of this is about a culture of working for yourself encouraging more people to do the same. If you have family, friends and neighbours who run their own businesses it’s a normal thing to do so you’re more likely to consider it as a career choice than if everyone around you is employed. And you have a natural support network.
“It’s also long been the case that in both areas businesses generally have good survival rates. Part of that is I think because people tend to take a more considered approach, and often more conservative.
“I think we also have an interesting mix in both areas of what you could call more traditional rural business and of people, often moving back or in, with entrepreneurial ideas.
“It all adds up to a great place to start and do business!”
Jo Lappin, chief executive of the Cumbria LEP said: “The LEP has been promoting Cumbria as an exceptional place to start and grow a business and its really pleasing to see Eden and South Lakeland being recognised as amongst the best places nationally to run a business.
“Cumbria offers an excellent quality of life, proximity to a wide range of markets through our Heart of the UK location, significant supply chain opportunities and a massive visitor market, so it really is a great location for new and growing businesses. There is also excellent support available for businesses, which we in the LEP alongside our partners can help businesses to access.”
Hassan Daher, the founder of Qardus, said: “The findings of this study ultimately indicates that some local authorities are better equipped to host new SMEs than others. What is interesting to note is that no London-based local authority ranked in the top ten, suggesting that it is difficult for SMEs to start out successfully in the capital.”
