How coastal towns in Britain have become mirco-business hotspots

The fresh sea air and occasional sun might be the main attraction of Britain’s coastal towns, but they’ve also become a hotspot for entrepreneurship.

Coastal towns including Felixstowe, Bournemouth and Sidmouth are among the fastest growing areas for UK microbusinesses, which have fewer than 10 employees.

GoDaddy’s Venture Forward report mapped more than 600,000 businesses across Britain to find each area’s ‘microbusiness density’ against each 100 residents.

The area dubbed Suffolk Coastal saw 54 per cent growth in its concentration of microbusinesses over the past year, over ten times the national average of 5 per cent.

The number of small businesses registered in the UK last year reached a record high, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics.

A total of 859,007 companies were registered in 2023, an increase of just under 75,000 on the previous year.

Andrew Gradon, head of GoDaddy UK & Ireland, said: ‘The UK’s small business community is in good health and we’ve seen growth in microbusiness density in most parts of the country. 

‘Many iconic coastal towns have been at the heart of this boom.

‘The trend is particularly pronounced in the south of England, as people have moved out of London post-Covid.’

Bournemouth West, which grew 29 per cent, East Devon and Bexhill and Battle, both up 23 per cent, also outstripped the national average.

Meanwhile, microbusinesses in the Isle of Wight, Totnes, and Portishead all grew more than 13 per cent, while St Austell and Newquay were up 11 per cent.

Catherine Hickman, Felixstowe, is one of these coastal entrepreneurs and founded her organic skincare business, fanatical botanical, last year.

‘Felixstowe has a strong community spirit; people believe in shopping local and supporting small businesses. The craft fairs and markets in Felixstowe helped get my business off the ground and in December I launched my website to support the next phase. 

‘My business is continuing to grow and I’ve just secured three local stockists to distribute my range of natural skincare products.’

However, a north-south ‘seaside divide’ is starting to emerge as towns in northern England and Wales have not fared as well.

Blackpool South trailed the national average with 2.7 per cent growth, while Scarborough and Whitby, and Morecambe and Lunesdale grew 2.1 per cent. Grimsby had a 1 per cent contraction in business growth.

The Vale of Clwyd which contains Rhyl also suffered, increasing its microbusiness density by 2.7 per cent.

Gradon said: ‘With the rapid advancements in technology and tools to help entrepreneurs set up websites quickly and efficiently, we hope to see the north-south seaside divide start to close in the near future.’