Swansea Labour delighted with impressive local business start-up ranking
Swansea beat major players to place in the top 5 best places to start a business (Image: ©leighton collins - stock.adobe.com)
Swansea Labour has long been the friend and supporter of local business development across the city. And that has now been proved by statistics showing that Swansea is the fourth ranked city in the UK for starting small businesses.
“We are fast gaining a reputation as a centre of small business enterprise”
After crunching the metrics, which includes survival rate, internet speed, average earnings and graduate retention rate, Swansea emerged ahead of some big hitters in the business world, notably London (27st), Manchester (31st) and Bristol (29th).
And interestingly, Swansea ranked above its easterly neighbour Cardiff which placed 21st.
Swansea Marina - Photo by Andy Watkins on Unsplash
“This is a great achievement for Swansea and particularly the Labour-led council which has long championed small business enterprises across the city,” said Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart.
“We are fast gaining a reputation as a centre of small business enterprise and these figures prove that.
“And we haven’t stopped there because as people can see there is more business development in the offing not least the start of the Kingsway development which will include 114,000 square feet of commercial floorspace with flexible co-working and office opportunities for innovative tech, digital and creative sector businesses.”
Swansea is recognised for its relatively cheap office space costs, high graduate retention rate (33%) and five-year start-up survival rate (38%). Only Sunderland was said to offer cheaper office set up costs.
And TechHub on Swansea High Street is a proven example of a thriving start-up culture, often fuelled by some of the resources coming out of Swansea’s two universities.
And Swansea Labour’s support for the sector does not stop there. Plans are also in place for the renovated Palace Theatre building and a new centre in The Kingsway to become hubs for creative and digital businesses in the city.
