Number of Brits thinking about starting their own business up by 36%
A new study into the levels of self employment in the UK has revealed that the number of people considering launching their own business has increased by more than a third (36%).
The research, carried out by Novuna Business Cash Flow analysed pre and post pandemic Google Search data across the most searched for questions around starting a business, and found monthly searches for ‘how to start a business’ had increased from 33,000 in March 2020 to 45,000 in January 2022.
Novuna’s research also revealed that the number of people searching for ‘how to register a business’ had jumped by 41% from 17,000 monthly searches to 24,000, while searches for ‘how to start a business with no money’ rocketed by 121% when comparing pre pandemic (4,500) and post pandemic (10,000) monthly Google search levels.
Searches for people looking for advice on how to write a business plan are up 13%, while searches for business loans are also up by 10%.
As well as looking at the search behaviour of budding entrepreneurs, Novuna Business Cash Flow also analysed LinkedIn data to discover the self employment hotspots around the country.
The research analysed the number of LinkedIn users in each UK city and compared that with the number of people with the job title ‘founder’ or ‘owner’ on the professional social networking platform.
The city of Bath has the highest percentage of self employed workers in the UK, with nearly 8% (7.84%) of people in the South West city running their own business.
Brighton & Hove is the second best place in the UK to be self employed, with 7.73% of the working population running their own business, while St Albans (7.31%), Worcester (6.37%) and London (6.35%) also featured in the top five cities.
UK cities with the highest % of self employed workers
- Bath – 7.84%
- Brighton & Hove – 7.73%
- St Albans – 7.31%
- Worcester – 6.37%
- London – 6.35%
- Chester – 6.3%
- Cambridge – 5.89%
- Edinburgh – 5.74%
- York – 5.7%
- Oxford – 5.49%
Aberdeen (3.23%), Coventry (3.31%) and Liverpool (3.59%) were found to be the worst cities to be self-employed in, with the lowest number of self-employed people in comparison to their working populations.
UK cities with the lowest % of self employed workers
- Aberdeen – 3.23%
- Coventry – 3.31%
- Liverpool – 3.59%
- Birmingham – 3.66%
- Leicester – 3.66%
- Wolverhampton – 3.66%
- Hull – 3.67%
- Dundee – 3.79%
- Bradford – 3.81%
- Southampton 3.82%
Commenting on the research, Andy Dodd, managing director of Novuna Business Cash Flow, said: “With more and more people pursuing their own ventures, particularly since the pandemic, it’s really interesting to see where the self employment hotspots around the UK are. It’s no surprise to see London in the top 10, but it’s really great to see a wide spread of cities from all parts of the country with a high percentage of people owning their own businesses.”
For more information about the UK’s self employment hotspots, visit https://www.novuna.co.uk/news-and-insights/products/where-is-the-best-place-to-be-self-employed/.
