Northampton in Paymentsense top ten for innovation in the UK as part of global index

Payment management firm Paymentsense is the latest company to name Northampton one of the most innovative places in the UK for business, finishing level with Cambridge.

The verdict came as part of the firm's global index of the world's most innovative cities.

It considered several factors to determine the winner, including the number of business start-ups per 10,000 people and education levels of the working population and the percentage of highly skilled jobs

They also looked at the average monthly online searches and trends for ‘how to start a business’ in the past year, as well as the number of Kickstarter ideas and average amounts pledged.

Out of a total possible score of 100, Northampton scored 72.1, the same as Cambridge, which brought it in at number ten and beating locations like Liverpool, Nottingham and Sheffield.

The rest of the top ten, from first to ninth, went London (86), Bristol (82), Edinburgh and Manchester (78), Leeds and Glasgow (77), Brighton (74) and Reading (73).

Earlier this month, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) also revealed that business insurance firm Superscript had identified Northampton as top of the league for business start-ups per capita.

Also, in 2019, Northampton ranked 21 in the inaugural Management Today ‘21 Best Towns and Cities for Business’, based on what WNC calls its productivity, talent and innovation.

Cllr Lizzy Bowen, West Northamptonshire Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth, said: “A number of studies have highlighted how entrepreneurial Northampton and it’s people are.

“The town has lots of fantastic businesses – many of which we visited during Small Business Saturday on 4 December, plus an amazing cultural and heritage offer.

“It’s clear that at the moment we’re not showcasing all of this to best effect, and we’re right at the start of a journey to remedy that.

“We’re very keen to hear the thoughts of businesses in the area about how we can boost the support we offer, to ensure we build on the extremely strong foundation we already have.”

Anyone who is interested in seeing the index and its methodology in full can read it hear.

WNC has asked people to contact them via their website or to call on 01327 322230 to find out more about the business support on offer.