NEW STUDY REVEALS LONDON AS THE MOST INNOVATIVE UK CITY IN 2021

A brand new study by Paymentsense has revealed the top 20 most innovative cities across the UK, with London taking first place.

The UK card payments provider created a nationwide ‘innovation index’ analysing over 60 UK cities. The study scored each location on the following factors that contribute to an innovation:

Business startups – Number of patent applications and new business registrations

Qualified workforce – Percentage of the working age population with NVQ4 and above education 

Profession knowledge – Percentage of private knowledge intensive business services jobs

Entrepreneurialism – Google search volumes and trends for ‘how to start a business’

Ranked: The 20 Most Innovative Cities In The UK

London ranks as the most innovative city in the UK, scoring 86.4 out of 100 on the Innovative index. With 107 startups registered per 10,000 people, compared to 89 business closures in the same year, the professional landscape of London is only growing. 

London also has the highest number of kickstarter ideas out of the whole of the UK with 16,835. The average pledge currently invested in London-based Kickstarters is £9,127.90, showing the vast amount of new business growth across the capital.

For London, innovation isn’t a new trait, it lies deep in the city’s history too. London has been home to many inventions, from the world’s first underground railway to the humble vacuum cleaner. So it is no shock the UK capital is top of this list.

Bristol comes second in the list of most innovative cities in the UK

Second place on the index goes to Bristol, scoring 2.5 out of 100. Home to one of the best universities in the country, inventor of motorcycle side-cars, and pioneer of beating heart surgery, Bristol has many strings to its innovating bow. Close behind London with nearly £11,000,000 in total invested in Kickstarters, Bristol’s innovations just keep coming.

Scotland’s second largest city, Edinburgh, is the third most innovative in the UK

Edinburgh rounds up the top 3, scoring a respectable 78.5 out of 100 innovation total. The city saw 55 business start-ups per 10,000 people in 2019. The historical city is constantly growing, and with 1,845 Kickstarters open at the moment, there is plenty of opportunity for innovation in every field. The city is the host of the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, and this is just one instance of world-leading innovation coming out of the city.

The Most Innovative Cities Worldwide – London Makes The Top 20

Paymentsense also looked into which cities were most innovative outside of the UK – creating a worldwide innovation index!

The data points analysed include the number of Google patent applications, new business registrations, universities and their rankings, relevant Google search terms trends, and the number of Kickstarter ideas and average amount pledged. These were then scored to give an ‘innovation index score’ out of 100.

Ranked: The 20 most innovative cities in the world

Out of all the cities worldwide, Paris comes out on top as the most innovative city with an index score of 79.3 out of 100. The US capital Washington D.C and Australia’s Canberra rank second and third respectively, both with an index score of 75.5 out of 100. London just makes the top twenty scoring a global innovation score of 57 out of 100.

To see the full index of the UK and the world’s most innovative cities, please visit here.