Why Business is Booming in Bristol
With a population of nearly half a million people, and ranked as one of Britain's largest cities Bristol is an ideal location for setting up a business. We take a look at some of the reasons why Bristol had the fourth highest number of business start-ups in 2017 and why it continues to attract hundreds of business in 2020.
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Innovation
Bristol is famous for innovation, from the world famous stencil art of Banksy to to the progressive music of Massive Attack, Bristol punches its weight in cultural invention. Ribena was founded here, yep that popular berry flavoured cordial. The Clifton Suspension Bridge is testament to man’s ability to overcome natural topography being a huge achievement in engineering.
It spans the Avon Gorge and the River Avon and was built to a design by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, based on an earlier design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The world's first mass-produced chocolate bar was made in Bristol by Joseph Fry in 1847.
Another world first was the flight of Concorde 002 which took off for the first time at Filton Bristol April 9, 1969. Concorde was the world's first commercial supersonic jet. It was designed and built in Filton.
Education
Bristol has a fantastic talent pool to recruit from. The city boasts two top class universities, University of Bristol and University of West of England. Both universities are research-led. Ranked among the top 30 universities in the world. University of Bristol is proactive in working alongside local businesses to enable graduate placements thus retaining those the students the university has nurtured. The RED programme (Research and Enterprise Development) collaborates with entrepreneur communities and researchers nationally enabling graduate placements.
STEP initiative is also available. This is a national scheme for short and medium-term work placements which caters for undergraduate and postgraduates.
Bristol is one of the most educated city's in the UK, with nearly 50 percent of the working age possessing NVQ Level 4 qualifications as a minimum level if education.
Business Support
Bristol has a comprehensive network of support enterprises and is ranked as one of the number one places to start up a new business. The city is brimming with tech startup incubators such as Bristol & Bath Science Park Innovation Centre, Entrepreneurial Spark, Bristol Robotics Lab, SETsquared, Engine Shed, Future Space, Network for Creative Enterprise, Pervasive Media Studio, Oracle’s Startup Cloud Accelerator (OSCA), Simpleweb, Bristol VR Lab and Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre. There are some superb office spaces to co-work such as our very own The Quorum where like-minded individuals and small companies can work side by side working off the same synergies.
The city hosts the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs, TEDxBristol and Venturefest with some superb funding opportunities via
Bristol City Council and the West of England Growth Fund, which is encouraged by the city having a high level of business survival rates.
