Published date 23 November 2021

Bristol named the most innovative UK city outside of London

Clifton Suspension Bridge

A brand new study by Paymentsense has revealed the top 20 most innovative cities across the UK.

One of Europe’s fastest-growing FinTech companies Paymentsense, with over 70,000 small business customers in the UK and Ireland, has created a nationwide ‘innovation index’ analysing over 60 UK cities. The study scored each location on the following factors that contribute to innovation:

  • Business start-ups – Number of patent applications and new business registrations
  • Qualified workforce – Percentage of the working-age population with NVQ4 and above education
  • Profession knowledge – Percentage of private knowledge-intensive business services jobs
  • Entrepreneurialism – Google search volumes and trends for ‘how to start a business’

Bristol comes second in the list of most innovative cities in the UK

Second place on the index goes to Bristol, scoring 82.5 out of 100. Home to one of the best universities in the country, inventor of motorcycle side-cars, and pioneer of beating heart surgery, Bristol has many strings to its innovating bow. Close behind London with nearly £11,000,000 in total invested in Kickstarters, Bristol’s innovations just keep coming.

Paymentsense note the following Bristolian innovators:

  • Dr Alex Young, the founder of AR company, Virti, put on TIME's Best Inventions list for 2020
  • Sarah Guppy, co-designer of the Clifton Suspension Bridge
  • Carmen Beckford, co-founder of the St Paul's Carnival

Paymentsense opened their Bristol office in 2020, discover why they chose Bristol here. You can also see the full list of the UK's most Innovative Cities here.

Get in touch with the Invest Bristol & Bath team today to discuss investing in our region.

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