New Study Reveals the Most Entrepreneurial Areas in Wales

A new study by NimbleFins found that the most entrepreneurial areas in Wales are Montgomeryshire and Brecon & Radnorshire. The study ranked parliamentary constituencies around the UK based on the number of small businesses per 10,000 working people. Overall, London and the South East dominated the TOP 50 ranking, but two parliamentary constituencies in Wales also made the cut.

With 4,220 small businesses in 2019, Montgomeryshire sported a rate of 1,006 small businesses per 10K working people. That means the rate of small businesses in Montgomeryshire was almost double the UK average of 588. The same rate in Brecon & Radnorshire was 972. Although lower than Montgomeryshire, the rate still beat the UK average by 65%. Following suit, the parliamentary constituencies of Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Carmarthen East & Dinefwr and Ceredigion also made it to the TOP 5 most entrepreneurial areas in Wales.

The data showed that Wales ranked 10th out of 12 in the UK for the rate of entrepreneurship, with 104,060 small businesses yielding a rate of 486 small businesses per 10K working-age people. The rate of entrepreneurship in Wales was therefore 17% lower than the UK average.

The study’s findings showed that there is a high correlation between areas with more entrepreneurs and more farming businesses in Wales. The areas with the most small businesses per person, Montgomeryshire and Brecon & Radnorshire, also had the highest proportion of agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses.

The study was conducted by the market research company NimbleFins, using recent business and population data from the Office of National Statistics. The study looked at businesses with either £85,000 of turnover (the threshold for registering for VAT) and/or those employing at least one person (triggering PAYE registration). Very small businesses without VAT registration or PAYE were left out of the current study. Read more about the methodology and find the full findings: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/business-insurance/which-areas-UK-most-entrepreneurs