Camden named London’s business startup capital

Research reported in the Evening Standard has named Camden the most entrepreneurial borough in London. Camden is now home to more new start-ups per capita in the past year than any other area, according to these new statistics. The Evening Standard’s research found 1,055 new small businesses were created in Camden between 2020 and 2021 — more businesses per capita than anywhere else in London. Camden bucked the national trend and saw a 3.3% increase in new companies in the borough between 2020 and 2021.

This is a ringing endorsement for Camden Labour’s commitment to support new businesses and local people into work and business creation. Camden’s Cllr Danny Beales, Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities, Culture & an Inclusive Economy, said, “Camden is proud of the progress that has been gained in recent years in local business creation in the borough. This demonstrates the passion, innovation and creativity of our residents. We have supported and facilitated this energy with our innovative schemes and partnerships such as the Knowledge Quarter in King’s Cross.

“Whilst these figures point to real positive trends, we do know that the last year and a half has been a very difficult time for our businesses due to COVID and we have supported many through the distribution of over £162m of COVID business grants.

“We have also prioritised long-term support. Such as more affordable workspace which is critical to retaining talented entrepreneurs and new businesses in Camden, where commercial rents have increased significantly. We have created over 10,000m2 of new, affordable space in the last five years (with a flexible but effective approach to negotiating affordable workspace creation through our planning policies). We are taking this even further with the development of an affordable workspace strategy.

“The Knowledge Quarter, located in Kings Cross, an amazing grouping of businesses and organisations of which we are a partner, has enabled access to a wealth of knowledge and experience and we are putting programmes in place to make sure this knowledge and expertise is spread across the borough. 

“To support new and existing businesses, we have launched a Rebel Business School in Camden to deliver business support sessions to help people with an interest in starting a business to get their ideas off the ground without taking on debt, with almost 200 residents taking part so far.

Entrepreneurs can be of any age so we are working with local schools to ensure Camden’s school leavers have the skills they need to access the wealth of opportunity in Camden by ensuring that all our school children can directly benefit from access to STEAM careers education and local work experience. As a partner of the LIFT project, we are also working with other local councils to provide enterprise support to increase the number of tech, digital and life sciences ‘founders’ from communities who are under-represented in those sectors.”

To find out more visit – https://www.camden.gov.uk/advice-on-starting-or-growing-your-business