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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The Lip King: We Need To Take Action On Unlicensed Practitioners

Toby Patrick
Oct 30, 2025
2 min read

If you are unfamiliar with the tragedy that came from the ‘Lip King’, then you will be shocked to know that this individual is just one of several cases that occur within the UK of unmonitored individuals administering injectables without having the correct medical background, training or education on the matter.

Close-up of a person getting a lip injection. A hand in blue gloves holds a syringe near the lips. Calm expression, neutral background.

The Lip King was the cause of a mother's death after an illegal injectable procedure called a ‘BBL’. In surgical matters, the BBL is an extremely dangerous procedure, which makes it no different when handling injectables, whether in the face or any other body part. While the lip king has not yet been tried for his crimes, it also raises so much concern that it’s taken for someone to lose their life for this now to be seen as a serious matter.

Why Has It Not Been Monitored?

For no reason other than the government hasn’t seen this as a serious enough offence or concern. It’s absolutely outrageous that some actions are against the law, but injecting chemicals into people's faces without any medical background isn’t one of them.

What Happens In The UK With Injectables?

As this has been unmonitored for so long, but also the ‘rules’ that have been put in place are only followed by the once who are medically registered and have nursing backgrounds.

However, some ‘practitioners’ believe they are fully qualified because they went to a course by watching someone else and training on a stranger's face. They are given a certificate from an aesthetics company that also doesn’t have any medical background. This has created a spiral of uneducated individuals who are then leaving and lying to customers that they are qualified, and potentially putting customers at risk.

Customers are none the wiser because they are trusting these people with a large following or a recommendation, or simply because they are offering injectables at an insanely low price. Overall, it’s not a well-known fact that for an individual to be fully qualified, they need to go through medical training and have a medical certificate or a nursing degree of some regard.

Because it’s not spoken about so much in the media or online, it’s getting forgotten about, but this means dangerous things are happening and have been happening for decades. Not only a couple of months ago, these practitioners have been purchasing ‘fake’ or foreign anti-wrinkle products and selling them as Botox. This fake Botox had dangerous reactions to patients' skin, and there were over 100 cases reported.

All that came of it was that practitioners needed to have a consultation with a new patient before administering the injectables. Which is ridiculous, as it’s not preventing the injector from being unqualified and administering the wrong products into people's faces.

What Of The Future?

Overall changes need to be made, and in the case of the Lip King, this might be a turning point in patient safety from backstreet cosmetic practitioners.

This means more qualified aesthetics companies, such as the likes of The Clinic Cheshire (my practitioner), won’t have to face the turmoil or pick up the pieces and damages these backstreet practitioners have done, and people will go to them in the first place for medical-grade and safe injectables.