Welwyn Hatfield has been ranked among the UK's best boroughs for business growth in the last year.
Data produced by Beauhurst used several key metrics to analyse business growth in every local authority between May 2023 and 2024, including the number of new businesses, scale-ups, fundraising events, grants, employees and active companies.
These metrics are used to give each council a 'Business Growth Score', with Welwyn Hatfield's 78.70 ranking it second in the UK for the most growth, only behind Runnymede with 91.19.
Welwyn Garden City BID manager, Nicola Wolff, was delighted with the data, saying: "It is really encouraging to hear Welwyn Hatfield has been ranked second across the UK for most business growth since May last year.
"Some sectors are more buoyant than others; the food and beverage and leisure industries are growing fast. We have seen this notable change in Welwyn Garden City.
"In the last year we have welcomed seven new businesses into our town centre. We have also seen many established businesses that have been resourceful and creative, grow their business."
Henry Whorwood, managing director of research and consultancy at Beauhurst added: "From some angles, the UK’s economy is in rude health.
"Firstly and mostly simply, there are a record number of active companies. Looking at companies with at least one full-time equivalent employee, there are 2.4 million - an all-time record. More than 240,000 new companies incorporated in the first quarter of 2024 - another record.
"But this growth is not distributed evenly in the UK. Some regions are prospering, some are falling behind. Our ranking shows the winners as well as the losers – the incoming government should take note."
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