The Best Cities for Productivity in the UK
Remote working is here to stay. People have the freedom and choice as to where they want to live, creating new expectations about flexibility, working conditions and life balance. However, the flexibility to roam and work might not always come up trumps.
Connectivity and cost can make or break your working set-up. Whilst these factors may be out of your hands, you can set yourself up for success by actively selecting a city that has the best capabilities. That’s why we compared 34 cities across four key metrics, outage reports, full fibre access, download speed and co-working costs to find out which is the most productive city to work in
Rank | Location | Outages Low = good | Outages rank | Full fibre % High = good | Full fibre % rank | Download speed High = good | Download speed rank | Co-working costs Low = good | Co-working costs rank | Total High = good (out of 40) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Coventry | 72 | 9.947 | 93.00% | 10.0 | 73.4 | 7.14 | £87 | 8.7 | 36 |
2 | Slough | 228 | 9.828 | 70.30% | 8.1 | 93.3 | 10.00 | £167 | 4.9 | 33 |
3 | Swindon | 4 | 9.999 | 81.10% | 9.5 | 71.6 | 6.79 | £149 | 5.8 | 32 |
4 | Derby | 5 | 9.998 | 73.30% | 8.5 | 72.8 | 7.03 | £148 | 5.8 | 31 |
5 | Oldham | 11 | 9.994 | 44.20% | 4.7 | 69.2 | 6.33 | £59 | 10.0 | 31 |
6 | Bristol | 183 | 9.862 | 71.20% | 8.2 | 69.9 | 6.47 | £147 | 5.9 | 30 |
7 | Leeds | 1367 | 8.957 | 76.30% | 8.9 | 63.3 | 5.19 | £116 | 7.3 | 30 |
8 | Leicester | 138 | 9.897 | 50.20% | 5.5 | 74.1 | 7.28 | £112 | 7.5 | 30 |
9 | Exeter | 3 | 10.000 | 73.80% | 8.5 | 61.5 | 4.84 | £142 | 6.1 | 29 |
10 | Cardiff | 307 | 9.768 | 65.90% | 7.5 | 63.2 | 5.17 | £123 | 7.0 | 29 |
11 | Edinburgh | 1041 | 9.206 | 74.50% | 8.6 | 71 | 6.68 | £175 | 4.6 | 29 |
12 | Norwich | 100 | 9.926 | 39.60% | 4.1 | 70.6 | 6.60 | £100 | 8.1 | 29 |
13 | Salford | 263 | 9.801 | 74.10% | 8.6 | 67.9 | 6.08 | £181 | 4.3 | 29 |
14 | Birmingham | 1985 | 8.484 | 48.70% | 5.3 | 71.2 | 6.72 | £117 | 7.3 | 28 |
15 | Reading | 7 | 9.997 | 55.60% | 6.2 | 68.3 | 6.16 | £172 | 4.7 | 27 |
16 | Liverpool | 405 | 9.693 | 53.10% | 5.9 | 58.1 | 4.18 | £127 | 6.8 | 27 |
17 | Glasgow | 788 | 9.400 | 48.80% | 5.3 | 62.3 | 4.99 | £131 | 6.6 | 26 |
18 | Wakefield | 7 | 9.997 | 60.30% | 6.8 | 43.5 | 1.35 | £110 | 7.6 | 26 |
19 | Nottingham | 367 | 9.722 | 57.20% | 6.4 | 68.6 | 6.21 | £206 | 3.1 | 25 |
20 | Walsall | 114 | 9.915 | 29.30% | 2.8 | 60.3 | 4.60 | £100 | 8.1 | 25 |
21 | Portsmouth | 5 | 9.998 | 49.00% | 5.3 | 53.3 | 3.25 | £129 | 6.7 | 25 |
22 | Stockport | 4 | 9.999 | 35.70% | 3.6 | 72.5 | 6.97 | £186 | 4.0 | 25 |
23 | Sheffield | 368 | 9.721 | 61.30% | 6.9 | 41.7 | 1.00 | £124 | 6.9 | 25 |
24 | Southampton | 381 | 9.711 | 53.50% | 5.9 | 69.3 | 6.35 | £219 | 2.5 | 24 |
25 | Manchester | 1406 | 8.927 | 46.70% | 5.0 | 67.4 | 5.98 | £184 | 4.1 | 24 |
26 | Newcastle | 173 | 9.870 | 58.80% | 6.6 | 48.2 | 2.26 | £181 | 4.3 | 23 |
27 | Preston | 5 | 9.998 | 34.60% | 3.5 | 55.9 | 3.75 | £173 | 4.6 | 22 |
28 | Plymouth | 68 | 9.950 | 22.00% | 1.9 | 59.3 | 4.41 | £155 | 5.5 | 22 |
29 | Gateshead | 7 | 9.997 | 15.30% | 1.0 | 51.5 | 2.90 | £111 | 7.6 | 21 |
30 | Bolton | 216 | 9.837 | 37.40% | 3.8 | 70.9 | 6.66 | £272 | 1.0 | 21 |
31 | Brighton & Hove | 93 | 9.931 | 30.90% | 3.0 | 55 | 3.58 | £182 | 4.2 | 21 |
32 | Blackpool | 161 | 9.879 | 21.40% | 1.8 | 50 | 2.61 | £175 | 4.6 | 19 |
33 | Burnley | 3 | 10.000 | 18.30% | 1.4 | 49.8 | 2.57 | £220 | 2.4 | 16 |
34 | London | 13079 | 1.000 | 55.20% | 6.1 | 57.3 | 4.02 | £256 | 1.0 | 12 |
The most productive
places to live in
While the odd Wi-Fi outage or a lagging screen thanks to poor download speeds can be a great excuse to make yourself another cuppa, it being a regular occurrence can get frustrating very quickly. It can have a massive impact on the completion of your projects, the happiness of your clients and, perhaps, even the overall success of your business. After all, there are only so many times you can use the excuse, “my connection is bad, can you say that again?” without sounding insincere and unprofessional. So, which city scored the highest across our four metrics to win the title of the most productive city?
Luckily, the workers of Coventry don’t have to conjure up IT-related excuses very often as this city takes the top spot on our productivity list with a great score of 36 out of 40. It ranked highly on both co-working costs and the full fibre access metrics, meaning residents get super-fast internet speed whether they work from home or a co-working space. So, if you opt for Coventry, you don’t have to worry about the internet slowing you down during your working hours (or your personal time too) – win-win!
In second place is Slough, scoring 33 out of 40. It came in first place for stellar download speeds, scoring a perfect 10 and came in second place for full fibre internet connection. So, head there for killer internet speeds and a low risk of internet outages. And in third place is Swindon, scoring a tidy 32 points. Its top marks are again thanks to excellent full fibre access and minimal internet outages.
No-go zones for efficiency
If there’s got to be the best place for productivity, then there has to be the worst, right? Well, our beloved capital city, London, leads the charge of unproductivity in our index with an abysmal score of 12 out of 40. It’s flanked by Burnley and Blackpool for second and third for the worst places to work in for output.
London’s low score is due to its extortionate co-working costs and its frequent outages as it has the highest number of occurrences on the list. London’s only redeeming feature is that it doesn’t score terribly for full fibre access, with a decent score of 6.1. So, while working in the capital city does come with a load of cool perks, it turns out that there are some pretty serious factors to consider before you decide to make it your headquarters.
Working from anywhere?
Gone are the days when working from the office five days a week is the norm. Working from home, your local café or even abroad are viable options for many. However, these options aren’t always the ideal working setups for everyone. For those who prefer to work (and are even more productive) in a comfortable office environment, co-working spaces are a great alternative for anyone who can’t afford to set up their own working space. But how much will this luxury set you back in your nearest city?
Well, Oldham wins the title of most affordable co-working space. A desk in this Greater Manchester hub will only set you back £59 a month – what a bargain! Other well-priced options to consider are Coventry and Norwich, respectively costing £87 and £100 per month. However, if you want to enjoy the many benefits a co-working space brings, like improved collaboration, networking and clearly defined work/life spaces, you’ll have to fork out the big bucks in some places. Surprisingly, Bolton tops the list as a desk here will set you back £272 monthly. Although, unsurprisingly, London came in second place for high co-working prices sitting at £256. That racks up to £3,072 per year for Londoners!
The cost of unproductivity
In business, time is one of the most valuable currencies a company has. So, when minutes or even hours are lost to poor internet connection or outages, that’s also your hard-earned money flushed down the drain. While these factors are often out of your control, carefully considering where you set up shop based on these metrics can make a huge difference to the success of your business. So, which city should you perhaps rethink working from?
Well, sadly the costliest city is Edinburgh. The average cost lost per worker equates to a whopping £3,061 per year (based on the average salary). That’s a fair chunk of change that can be better spent elsewhere, such as investing in promoting your business to win more work, rewarding yourself or your employees regularly or outsourcing tricky projects. Behind the historic city of Edinburgh is bustling Bristol. The average annual loss per worker sits at £1,950 and in third place is Leeds with a loss of £1,502. So, the value of reliable connection and up-to-date tech may not be priceless, but it does seem that it adds up very quickly.
We assessed 34 cities against four different factors that are important to consider when setting up a business or choosing a place to work from. All data was collected in January and February 2023. To standardise the results and help rank the cities, a formula was applied to rank each factor evenly between 1-10.
The formula used was:
Score(i) = 10 * ( ( (x(i) - x(min) ) / ( (x(max) - x(min) ) )
A final score was calculated by adding up the scores awarded across all 4 factors.
- Outage reports in the last 15 days (date of data: January 2023) - https://istheservicedown.co.uk/
- Full fibre (% premises) (date of data: January 2023) - https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/councils
- Download speed (median download speed in Mbps Q4 of 2022) (date of data: January 2023) - https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/councils
- Co-working costs (desk costs per month in £) (date of data: January 2023) - https://www.coworker.com
- Average weekly salary - (date of data: January 2023) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2022
- Average hours of downtime per year – Uswitch 2022.