Two Scottish Regions Among Nation’s Most Entrepreneurial

Michael Edgar

11 March 2024, 04.20pm

Stirling Gigabit City Scotland entrepreneurs

Scottish regions have broken into two of the top five spots named as the UK’s most entrepreneurial regions in a new study.

A recent study conducted by ClickSlice has unveiled the top ten most entrepreneurial hotspots in the UK, where business formation outpaces population growth.

The study based the top ten on the number of businesses per 1000 people, across the UK, to which Dumfries & Galloway and Stirling ranked 2nd and 5th respectively.

According to the study, Dumfries & Galloway boasts 188 businesses per 1000 people, while Stirling has 102, both above the National average of 100 per 1000.

The other regions breaking the top five were Chichester at first with 203, Winchester at second with 163, and Guildford at 5th with 99.

Despite London’s reputation as a global financial powerhouse, it falls short in entrepreneurship per capita. Westminster boasts the highest number of entrepreneurs relative to residents, yet this figure is skewed by the dominance of financial services.

Other major cities like Manchester (8), Birmingham (14), Glasgow (11) and Liverpool (16) also rank low for businesses per resident, despite their significant gross numbers of startups.

The regions with the highest business densities tend to be more rural or suburban. These smaller or mid-sized communities offer advantages for entrepreneurs, including more affordable real estate costs and potentially less competition from larger corporations found in major metropolitan areas.

Recommended reading

“This analysis reveals some unexpected areas that are punching above their weight in terms of their attractiveness for startups,” says Joshua George, Founder of ClickSlice.

“These rural and suburban areas offer advantages for entrepreneurs including more affordable real estate costs and potentially less competition from larger corporations you’d find concentrated in big metro areas.”

These findings come on the backdrop of Scotland showing significant private sector growth, going from 51.7 in January to 53.1 in February on the Business Activity Index, the biggest jump since last June.