Choosing Which UK City To Start Your First Business

27 May 2026

Toby Patrick

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When it comes to the UK economy at the moment, a lot of prospective owners are probably of the mind that it's not the best time to start a new business. But this isn’t the case across the board. Numerous industries are either experiencing steady, consistent growth or are thriving on the chaos and remaining unfazed, like companies operating within AI and technology spaces.

While the type of industry is no doubt a huge factor that can determine the success of a business, in many cases, a company's location is just as important. Where you choose to settle can be influenced by several factors, from the cost of operations, employee wage expectations, rent, and so much more.

London

The UK’s capital is naturally home to the headquarters of a lot of very successful businesses, but with London’s high business rates, employee wage expectations and rental costs, setting up there can be eye-watering for a small, start-up business.

While some options a bit further out from the city might be more attractive in those aspects, it’s again dependent on the type of business you own. For example, a fashion retailer might thrive in London's city centre, as footfall, tourism, and overall population are higher than in any other major city. That being said, other areas can also be more attractive in terms of costs, such as a shopping centre in Essex and so forth.

It’s also worth noting that in 2023, the average turnover for a small business in London was just over 100,000, with 9% business growth.

Leeds

Known as one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the North. Within the digital sector alone, there was a 125% growth above the national average, which screams new opportunities to start your own tech business here. Leeds is great for that area of business, but also holds the benefits of competitive business rates, much cheaper rental compared to southern areas, and you have the added advantage of being located in a skilled talent pool of university students, which allows you to build your company, train your business, and also offers affordable wages to begin with as you grow and enter a new market.

Manchester

England's second city and capital of the north is an unsurprisingly hub for a range of industries, with a history of success in the textile industry, but in recent years it has boasted promising opportunities for creative media and fashion, which are both going through periods of consistent growth.

Not to mention that Mancunians love their nightlife, so that would also be a promising opportunity, even if the hospitality industry is struggling by and large, bars in Manchester are having more success, as people there are heading straight to Irish bars for a pint, music and vibes so it’s something to consider for hospitality start-ups.

Fashion, like other cities such as London, is at Manchester’s core, but like other industries, it’s very competitive; that’s why incorporating a creative media element would allow new businesses within this field to thrive there.

Manchester as a whole can be expensive, but there are places where you can find a real bargain for rental units, there are also pretty competitive. It’s also worth considering that in 2023, Manchester's average business turnover was just under £90,000, with 4% growth that year.

Liverpool

Liverpool is another northern powerhouse with potential in a variety of fields and opportunities for professional services, such as tech and cybersecurity. Though it’s still a major UK city, its economy is slightly smaller than that of Manchester, while still growing consistently, but, on the bright side, operating costs are also generally lower.

There is an art to getting your foot in the door without being bled out in the first year on business rates and rent, so Liverpool is a great place to consider starting up. It might be an easier environment in which you can build your reputation, customer base, and make a name for yourself before expanding into other major cities.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to picking which city to start your start up it’s completely dependant on what industry you want to emerge into, what you can afford in terms of business rates, wage expectations and rent prices, as while you might not turn a profit in your first year or two, you don’t want to dig yourself into a hole that will burnout your business before you’ve even started.

The vast majority of cities tend to be tech and financial hubs, which just comes with the modern-day expectations and overall growth, but there are so many other industries that are also growing to consider, and choosing something you are passionate about can make individuals, whether it’s B2B or B2C, seem so much more inviting and interested in it compared to others.

Make sure you do your research in terms of growth within that industry in various locations over the last 5 to 10 years before setting up shop anywhere, as this will give a better insight into potential trends.

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When writing social media content for your business, you may sometimes suffer from writer’s block and wonder what on Earth to talk about.

There may not be anything particularly interesting going on for you to talk about - or so you may think. There’s always something to create content around; in this article, I will show you where to find inspiration for social media posts.

Create a social media content plan

Having a plan in place makes it easier to curate content on days where you may draw a blank.

An easy plan to follow is:

Monday - #MondayMotivation
Tuesday - #TopTipTuesday
Wednesday - #WednesdayWisdom
Thursday - #ThrowbackThursday
Friday - #FridayFeeling

These hashtags serve as effective prompts and are great inspiration for social media posts.

Reshare old content

If you’re struggling to produce social media content, why not reshare and repurpose old social media posts? Choose content that will be meaningful to your audience, or a ‘throwback’ to one of your significant milestones.

Perhaps reshare some of your favourite products or services, and how they helped one of your customers – you could even tag that same customer in the post. Tagging the relevant client means that they’ll be more likely to share your content, talk about your business and describe their experience with you.

Share customer reviews

Sharing (positive) customer feedback is a great way to boost client loyalty. Put your customers’ opinions of your business out there for all to see.

Once again, tag the relative customer in the post; increase the chances that they’ll share the post and talk positively about your business.

Utilise trending topics

Commenting on trending topics is a great way to organically boost your reach on social media. Because people will be actively searching and talking about these topics, they’ll be more likely to see your post and interact with it. Try to avoid subjects such as politics, religion, or anything too polarising; you don’t want to alienate members of your audience.

Twitter is a great way to identify the popular topic of the hour/day - you can even see the top posts for the subject that’s trending and take inspiration from these to create your post.

Host a poll on your socials

Polls are a great way to generate organic engagement on your social media. Polls can be created around anything to do with your business. For example, a marketing company could host a poll that relates to two new logos and ask their audience which one they prefer. Not only does this provide market research, it will get them talking about your plans.

Go behind the scenes

People are intrinsically nosy and will therefore be interested in what goes on behind the scenes of your business. Bring them into your world and show them what a typical day is like for you and your company. Posting behind the scenes humanises your business, it gives your brand a personality and makes you more relatable.

It’s easy to create compelling content for your social media if you think outside the box. Just keep in mind, with any content you create, that it must always be engaging and relatable to your audience.