Where's the best place to start a business?

Deciding where to base your enterprise can affect its chances of success. From funding opportunities to local talent, we look at the cities that come out on top

When it comes to startup survival rates, Cambridge is the best town or city in the UK with 49.4% of businesses still going after five years. Manchester is the worst according to this rating with just 35.9% of startups still in business after this time. This could be down to two factors, says Chris Haley, head of startups at innovation charity Nesta: the supportive networks found in a relatively small city and the type of startups. "Some of the startups [founded in Cambridge, which has specialities in science, technology and medicine] could have raised a lot of funds that enabled them to keep going for four to five years, whereas others have raised small rounds.