Londoners top 'new business' table

Londoners start more new businesses than people from anywhere else in the country, new statistics reveal.

Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young said 24 in every 10,000 Londoners started a new business last year, three times the national average of eight in 10,000.

The accountant ranked 50 of the UK's largest towns and cities on residents' entrepreneurial spirit. Swansea was bottom, with three more businesses lost than created last year by each 10,000 of the town's residents.

Laurence Sacker, a partner at UHY, said the research suggested many towns and cities needed targeted help with developing their small business communities.

He added that London's ability to create new businesses would have been hit following the slump in its financial services sector during the credit crunch. "It comes as quite a surprise, therefore, to see it at the top of the list."