Silicon Roundabout tops UK startup chart with over 15,000 new businesses

For the second year in a row, Silicon Roundabout has created more new businesses than anywhere else in the UK.

Research by UHY Hacker Young has revealed the area generated 15,620 new businesses in 2013/14 (up to March 31st).

The area, covered by the EC1V postcode, saw nearly five times as many businesses launched as the Canary Wharf area – though the tech cluster’s total is down slightly from last year’s 15,720 new businesses.

Tech is moving

Whilst the Silicon Roundabout saw the largest number of new companies, other London postcodes are growing fast.

Borough, Bankside and Bermondsey, covered by the SE1 postcode, saw a more rapid expansion in new business creation with a 13% increase in new businesses, from 5,190 to 5,850 in the last year.

It’s still good news for the tech sector though. Most of the new companies in this area are also tech companies – a sign that London’s tech scene is growing in areas other than Old Street and Shoreditch.

Colin Jones, Partner at UHY Hacker Young, explains that the Silicon Roundabout might now be too expensive for new companies:

Rising rents in the Silicon Roundabout area mean that many start-ups are now choosing areas south of the River Thames, or East London as their first base.

London still ahead

Of the top 20 postcodes, only three were outside of the capital.

Last month, London claimed top spot of PwC’s Cities of Opportunity index for the first time.

London finished top of several indicators covered by the index, including world university rankings, software development and multimedia design’ and relocation attractiveness.

Hove’s BN3 postcode finished tenth in the UHY Hacker Young research – but again it put this growth down to the coastal city’s proximity to London.