The UK is now Europe’s most entrepreneurial nation, with over 2,644,100 businesses having started within the last two years alone.

According to data gathered from Companies House for Instant Offices, 2015 was a record year for start-up growth. The research is mapped out in a leader-board of the most entrepreneurial cities in the UK.

Liverpool leads the charge

The population of Liverpool is estimated at 440,000, and with 134,569 new companies starting over the past two years, this results in an entrepreneurial population percentage of 16 per cent. Birmingham’s entrepreneurial population percentage was 14.5 per cent followed closely by Manchester at 14 per cent.

These numbers are significantly higher than the UK average at 2 per cent and the nation’s capital London, which holds an entrepreneurial population of just 7.5 per cent by comparison.

Growing demand for flexible workspaces

According to Tim Rodber, CEO of the Instant Group, enquiries for flexible workspace in regional cities were up by nearly a quarter from the previous year, with an increased interest in one two desks – indicative of start-ups.

“SMEs are hungry for space in these regions but we are also seeing larger space requirements too, which means that corporates are setting up teams to cater for project work and serve the regional markets,” he added.

Over the past year, enquires for fixed office spaces was up by 15 per cent, compared to enquiries for flexible space, which increased by 21 per cent across the UK. According to Rodber, this suggests that “many of these firms want space to grow but are not ready to commit to leased offices as yet.”