Here are the top 10 cities in the UK for female entrepreneurs

London has taken the top spot in a new study from small business insurance provider Simply Business revealing the 10 UK cities with the highest number of female-led businesses. (Do you own one of these businesses? Be sure to check out our article on venture capital funding for women.)

The Midlands has also emerged as a hub for female entrepreneurship, with Birmingham and Leicester taking second and third place respectively.

The remainder of the top 10 cities for female-led businesses was made up of Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, Exeter, and Sheffield in 10^th place.

The 10 UK cities with the highest number of female entrepreneurs and tradespeople

1. London
2. Birmingham
3. Leicester
4. Liverpool
5. Bristol
6. Edinburgh
7. Manchester
8. Glasgow
9. Exeter
10. Sheffield

The Simply Business study also looked at the 10 most popular types of businesses to be owned by women and found a diverse range, with business consultancy appearing third in the list behind cleaning and hairdressing.

Beauty businesses and market trading were in fourth and fifth positions, followed by teaching, IT, cake making and decorating, caring and café companies.

However, accountancy was found to be the fastest-growing type of business for female entrepreneurs, with the number of female-led accountancy businesses now 16 times larger than in 2014.

The survey analysed data from Simply Business’ 425,000 customers across 1,000 different trades.

Fiona McSwein, chief customer officer at Simply Business, commented:

“One hundred years after women got the vote in the UK, it is brilliant to acknowledge and celebrate female entrepreneurs around the country.

“Their hard work, expertise and commitment contributes significantly to the UK economy, and it is important that they are supported and encouraged as they grow their businesses.

“Our data shows the fantastic variety of career paths female entrepreneurs have chosen – from accountants and IT contractors to beauticians and market traders. At Simply Business we are so proud to insure the success of female-run businesses up and down the country.”