The UK’s most in-demand local businesses

Setting up a successful high street business is a dream that many people share, and making it a reality takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. If you’re thinking about starting your own business, you’ll need a clear understanding of consumer demand and the level of competition within your chosen niche and the local area. 

To help you understand which local businesses are the most in-demand across the UK, SumUp has collected and analysed thousands of data points from the local business environment to find out the level of demand and competition across 25 different business niches. We’ve looked at small businesses like bakeries, taxi companies, beauty salons, florists, and more.

We determined consumer demand by analysing Google search volume for terms like ‘bakeries near me’ and determined business supply by researching the number of each type of business registered in each UK city. The overall best places to start a business were determined by analysing the cities with the lowest level of business supply vs the highest level of consumer demand.

The best UK industries to start a business

When you’re setting up a new business, choosing a niche that’s in high demand will put you in good stead for success. It’s important that the demand outweighs the supply if you’re going to be able to cut through the competition and build a strong customer base. 

Our research has found the top 10 most in-demand local businesses across the UK, you can see the full ranking in the table below.

1. Carpet cleaning is the most in-demand local service across the UK

The UK’s most in-demand local business sits within the niche of carpet cleaning. We calculated an overall supply vs. demand index score of 6.50 for this type of small business, which means the odds could be stacked in the favour of entrepreneurs who choose to enter this market. 

2. The high-street business with the second highest level of demand are beauty salons 

Every high street needs a great beauty salon to keep the people in the local area looking and feeling their best, and our research found this type of small business to have the second highest demand across the UK.

With an overall supply vs. demand index score of 6.33 across the country, entrepreneurs will find plenty of demand for their services with a comparatively low level of competition due to a lack of supply, no matter where in the UK they are based. 

3. Event planners are the third most in-demand local business in the UK

Third, in our list of the UK’s most in-demand local businesses is an events planner. After analysing the level of supply and demand for events planning services across the UK, we gave this niche an overall supply vs demand index score of 6.15. 

Across the UK, entrepreneurs that enter the local events planning business space will find themselves in high demand with low levels of competition.

The UK’s best cities to open a local business

1. The best business to open in Edinburgh is a bakery

Our research reveals that Edinburgh is the best city in the UK to start a local business. The city’s overall index score is 7.78, which puts it in the top spot as the city with the overall highest demand and lowest supply across all of the niches we analysed.

One niche that stands out as a great small business idea for entrepreneurs in Edinburgh is a high-street bakery. 

There are just 36 bakeries in Edinburgh to cater to 9,000 average monthly Google searches for ‘Bakeries near me’, which gives the city a supply vs demand index score of 9.37 for this niche.

Other sectors with a promising supply vs demand score include book shops and restaurants, which scored 9.33 and 9.17 respectively.  

Edinburgh’s best business opportunities

2. Bristol’s best small business idea is hairdressing

With an overall city index score of 7.12, Bristol ranks as the second best UK city to start a local business in terms of overall supply and demand across all niches. 

The best business idea in Bristol is a local hairdressers. Our research found 110 hairdressers in Bristol, however each month an average of 5400 searches are made for ‘hairdressers near me’. This gives it a supply vs. demand index of 8.58.

Other high street industries that entrepreneurs might find success in are florists and bakeries, which we gave supply vs demand index scores of 8.05 and 8.03.

Bristol’s best business opportunities

3. Glasgow’s most in-demand business niche is taxi companies

In third place is Glasgow, with an overall city index score of 6.99 across all niches. Entrepreneurs based in Glasgow will find a high level of demand and a relatively low supply of taxi companies, which presents a great opportunity to enter a low-competition market.  

The city has 139 taxi companies to transport its population of 591,620, and each month city-dwellers make 170 Google searches for ‘taxi companies near me’.

The niches with the second and third highest supply vs demand index scores in Glasgow are beauty salons with 8.19 and travel agents with 8.18.

Glasgow’s best business opportunities

4. Birmingham’s most in-demand business is retail shops

The UK’s fourth best city to start a business in is Birmingham, which has an overall city index score of 6.74.

Within this city specifically, the niche with the highest demand and lowest supply is for retail shops. There are 205 retail shops and an average of 110 Google searches are made each month for ‘retail shops near me’, which gives it a supply vs demand index score of 9.01.

This is followed closely by event planners and electronic goods stores, which have supply vs demand indexes of 8.57 and 8.06 respectively.

Birmingham’s best business opportunities

5. The best business to open in Norwich is a taxi company

Fifth place in our ranking is Norwich, a city that earned itself a score of 6.61 across all sectors on our overall city index score. 

Taxi companies have a local supply vs demand score of 8.91, making them the best business idea in this Norfolk city. Other niche industries that are in high demand but low supply in Norwich include carpet cleaning businesses, which has a supply vs demand index score of 8.46, and dog sitter businesses with a score of 8.25. 

Norwich’s best business opportunities

6. Manchester’s most in-demand business is beauty salons

Following Norwich in our ranking of the best UK cities to start a business, Manchester ranks in sixth place having earned itself an overall city index score of 6.57.

Entrepreneurs considering opening a beauty salon will find their services in high demand in Manchester.

With just 93 beauty salons and 720 searches for ‘Beauty salon near me’, the demand for this type of business outweighs the supply in Manchester, which gives it a supply vs demand index of 9.04 for the niche.

Other businesses with high supply vs demand index scores in Manchester include barbers (8.88), and retail shops (8.55).

Manchester’s best business opportunities

7. Carpet cleaning and event planning are among Leeds’ most in-demand businesses

The seventh best city in the UK to set up a business is Leeds. The West Yorkshire city has an overall city index score of 6.32, which means the level of demand outweighs supply in many of the industries we looked at.

In particular, carpet cleaning in Leeds has a supply vs demand index score of 8.41. Each month 1,600 Google searches are made for ‘carpet cleaning near me’, yet there are just 150 businesses providing carpet cleaning services.

For entrepreneurs, a market with high demand and low levels of competition can be an attractive opportunity to develop a strong market position in the city.

If carpet cleaning isn’t of interest, event planners (8.08) and electrical goods stores (7.72) are two other small business ideas with similarly high supply vs index scores, indicating their high potential to be successful in Leeds.

Leeds’ best business opportunities

8. The sector with the highest demand and lowest supply in Aberdeen is cleaning businesses

In eighth place is Aberdeen, the third Scottish city to make the top 10 in our list of the best UK cities to set up a new business. 

Demand for cleaning businesses is relatively low in every city we analysed across the country, with each location in our analysis except for Birmingham (30), Leeds (20), and Liverpool (30) having an average monthly search volume of 10 for the term ‘Cleaning business near me’. 

Despite this low demand, Aberdeen is the city with the fewest cleaning businesses, giving it a supply vs demand index score of 7.85 for this niche.

This makes it the best location for entrepreneurs looking to launch a new cleaning business in an area with relatively low competition in comparison to other areas.

Other niches with attractive supply vs demand index scores include moving companies (7.85) and carpet cleaning businesses (7.72).

Aberdeen’s best business opportunities

9. The most in-demand business in Sheffield is carpet cleaning

The ninth city in our top 10 is Sheffield, which has an overall city index score of 6.00. 

Sheffield is another UK city where carpet cleaning is the most in-demand business. Based on the fact there are just 186 carpet cleaning companies in the city and 1,300 searches on average each month for ‘carpet cleaning near me’, we’ve awarded this niche a supply vs demand index score of 6.95.

Other niches in which entrepreneurs can benefit from a low level of supply and high demand are tutors and hairdressers, which each have a supply vs demand index score of 6.61 and 6.45, respectively.

Sheffield’s best business opportunities

10. Taxi companies are the most in-demand business in Plymouth

Finally, in 10th place we have Plymouth, which scores 5.92 on our overall city index. Entrepreneurs who are interested in setting up a business in Plymouth will have the highest chance of success with a taxi company. 

For this niche, Plymouth has a supply vs demand index score of 9.42, with 71 taxi companies and 90 monthly Google searches on average for ‘taxi company near me’. This makes it a favourable market environment for small business owners seeking a low competition market.

Other markets which may appeal to entrepreneurs include caterers, which has an overall supply vs demand index of 7.57 and carpet cleaning businesses with a score of 7.30. 

Plymouth’s best business opportunities

What else should entrepreneurs consider when launching a new business?

The UK’s small business market holds plenty of opportunity for entrepreneurs to find success, with our analysis revealing that carpet cleaners, beauty salons, event planners, cleaning businesses, and florists can benefit the most from a low level of supply and high levels of demand.

Edinburgh, Bristol, and Glasgow also emerge as the three best places in the UK to set up a local business. 

Whilst the niche entrepreneurs choose for their new business does have a bearing on their chances of success, there are also many other factors to consider. 

Here are a few of the steps you need to take to set up a new business.

• Put together a business plan. This will help you get prepared and will prove to be useful if you begin to approach investors. The plan should include an executive summary, a description of the business, and market analysis.

• Secure funding. You’ll need to figure out how much money you need to set up your new business before you can explore your options for securing funding. It’s a good idea to have a backup plan too, just in case. Keep in mind that it could take at least 1-2 years for your business to break even, so you’ll need enough cash to cover your expenses until then.

• Legal admin. Decide what kind of business you want your startup to be categorised as (limited company, sole trader, etc.) then get registered with HMRC. From there you’ll need to take out Employers’ Liability insurance and decide how you’re going to handle accounting (outsource to an accounting firm or automate with a dedicated POS system).

• Marketing and branding. Pin down a name, concept, and logo for your business. It’s important to make sure that this all appeals to your target market and stands out from your competition.

SumUp has a host of tools that small merchants across the UK can use to start or grow a business.

As well as helping entrepreneurs to boost their sales with online stores and gift cards, we can also help them create professional invoices or manage their expenses with free online business accounts.  

Moreover, tools like our Point of Sale solution or card readers can reduce some of the everyday pressures associated with running a business.