Remote working has become a staple, post-pandemic, and with a work-from-anywhere approach many entrepreneurs have begun setting up businesses in places more thought of as holiday destinations than business hubs.
We looked at Companies House data across seaside towns with a population of at least 50,000 and compared that with new businesses registered in 2022. We then ranked the towns based on that ratio to find out which seaside spots are the most entrepreneurial in the UK!
Most Entrepreneurial Seaside Town
Weston-Super-Mare is England’s most entrepreneurial seaside town with 882 new companies were set-up in 2022 – a rise of almost 90% compared with the previous year. The North Somerset resort town has a relatively small population of just 82,418 which means a new business was started last year for every 93 people.
This is impressive when compared to some large cities such as Southampton with a population of more than one million. There, one new business was also started last year for every 93 people.
| Town | Number of new businesses started in 2022 | % increase of new businesses started in 2022 compared with 2021 | Population as defined by 2021 census data | One company registered per every X people living in the town* |
| Weston-Super-Mare | 882 | 90% | 82,418 | 93 |
| Blackpool | 1,504 | 30% | 141,100 | 94 |
| Southport | 900 | 31% | 90,336 | 100 |
| Eastbourne | 978 | 22% | 101,700 | 103 |
| Worthing | 871 | 10% | 111,400 | 127 |
| Torquay | 512 | 52% | 67,843 | 132 |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 346 | 68% | 53,208 | 153 |
| Great Yarmouth | 619 | 40% | 99,800 | 161 |
| Bognor Regis | 415 | 43% | 53,208 | 164 |
*For example, one new business was started last year in Weston-Super-Mare for every 93 people
Among the start-ups in the town were a host of new event and catering companies, hairdressing and beauty businesses as well as management consultancy services.
Blackpool has the most startups
The highest number of start-ups in seaside towns emerged in Blackpool which saw 1,504 registered last year with Companies House, a 30% rise on 2021.
A whopping 2677 new businesses were registered in the two northern seaside towns in our top 9.
East coast gold rush
The pull of the East coast’s golden sandy beaches saw Clacton-on-Sea experience a leap of 68% in new business registrations throughout 2022 compared to the previous year.
Great Yarmouth is also home to 619 new businesses start-ups.
Sussex is the place for new start-ups
Three of our top 9 seaside start-up locations are in Sussex. Worthing and Bognor Regis in West Sussex and Eastbourne in East Sussex all saw a healthy increase in new business.
Also in Sussex is Brighton, it didn’t make our list as it’s technically a city but we couldn’t let it go without a special mention as 2,028 new businesses were registered there last year and with a population of just 277,200 that’s one new business for every 136 people.
“Far from being sleepy resorts for retirees, this research shows the entrepreneurial flame is burning brightly in the UK’s coastal communities when it comes to grasping new business opportunities.
“Following the pandemic, thousands of families decided to relocate from the UK’s cities in pursuit of a new lifestyle. This was likely the catalyst needed for many individuals to create a business while operating from their new-found location, comfortable in the knowledge the workplace is now fundamentally more flexible.
“We’re seeing that businesses planning for the future and hoping to gain an edge in talent attraction are increasingly turning to flexibility as a key strategic driver. During the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2021, enquiries rose considerably for some of our flexible office locations beyond the big cities, confirming that the geographical concentration of business skills is diversifying.”
John Williams, CMO, Instant Offices
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Method:
We used Companies House data to uncover how many new businesses were launched in some of the UK’s coastal towns during 2022 compared with 2021. We overlaid this with population data to discover which places had the highest new business-to-population ratio.
We focused on ‘seaside towns’ (or resorts) rather than all places around the coast. We analysed the data for the 18 largest seaside towns in England, each with a population of at least 50,000. These were Bournemouth, Brighton, Southend-on-Sea, Blackpool, Isle of Wight, Worthing, Folkestone, Scarbrough, Eastbourne, Great Yarmouth, Hastings, Southport, Weston-Super-Mare, Lowestoft, Bognor Regis, Torquay, Weymouth, Clacton-on-Sea.