UK’s creative hotspots mapped for the first time

Posted Monday 29th November 2010

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) have today published the first map of its kind to show where the UK’s creative businesses have chosen to call home and form ‘creative clusters’ – areas which promote innovation and growth across their geographical regions.

With assistance from Birmingham and Cardiff Universities, NESTA gleaned information from official business registers to form an interactive map that allows users to see where creative businesses cluster together on a region by region basis. The research is so detailed in fact that users can even zoom into individual districts and streets to see what creatives have pitched up tent in their neighbourhood.

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NESTA hope the maps will be used by local and national policymakers to encourage and maximise the potential of these tech intense organisations as they expect companies in this sector to grow at double the rate of the rest of the economy over the next five years.

London unsurprisingly topped the charts across the nine innovative industries measured (full list can be found here) with areas around Old Street, recently earmarked as the proposed site for the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’, Southwark and Shoreditch among the most popular.

Old Street London

Outside of the Capital, the research identifies 9 other ‘hotspots’ – Cambridge, Brighton, Oxford, Bristol, Edinburgh, Guildford, Manchester, Slough and Bath.

This research is particularly timely as the coalition government have recently suggested that visionary and innovative small businesses will be at the forefront of leading the UK fully out of recession.

Creative organisations looking to meet these expectations set from upon high will require a suitable business environment in which to thrive in – and a serviced office could be the perfect solution.

With no capital expenditure required before you move and flexible lease terms, they are ideal for tech start-ups and SME’s who need to adapt and evolve almost continiously. Tech intense organisations will also benefit from a world class IT and telephone infrastructure.

If you are a creative agency looking for office space in the hotspots of London, Edinburgh, Manchester or Slough, Abbey Offices have a presence in each of them.

To find out more about our small business office space, call us today or email info@abbeyoffices.com.

Take a look at NESTA’s Creative Clusters map in full on their website – www.nesta.org.uk