South Lakeland is one of the best areas in the UK for new businesses to have a chance of growing.

That is according to research carried out by Qardus, which determined that the region was the ninth best area for SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) to survive.

Ceredigion in Wales finished in top spot with a score of 29.03 out of 100, whereas Bromsgrove saw businesses struggle the most with a score of 80.75.

Hassan Daher, the founder of Qardus, said: "The findings of this study ultimately indicate that some local authorities are better equipped to host new SMEs than others.

"What is interesting to note is that no London based local authority ranked in the top ten, suggesting that it is difficult for SMEs to start out successfully in the capital.” 

With a score of 31.81, South Lakeland finds itself in the top ten, only beaten by Selby, South Staffordshire, South Hams, South Derbyshire, Eden, Gwynedd  and Lewes.

Eden triumphed over its Cumbrian neighbour with a score of 30.44.

The findings came about through an analysis of data from the ONS to determine where SMEs are thriving and struggling.

The analysis was based on different factors: The Active Enterprise Change between 2021-2023, the change in the count of births of new enterprises 2020-2022, the change in the count of deaths of new enterprises 2020-2022, the change of high growth enterprises per 1,000, and the survival rate of SMEs across 3-5 years.   

Ceredigion recorded three and five-year survival rates of 67.44% and 55.81% respectively. 

In contrast, Bromsgrove recorded a -30.22% drop in SME enterprises being registered between 2021 and 2023 – the biggest drop of any local authority.

There was a 5.81% survival rate of SME’s in Bromsgrove recorded in the last five years too.

Qardus, who organised the research, was the first small business Islamic finance platform in the UK when it launched in July 2020.

The company offers sharia-compliant Islamic finance to any small business, whether it is Muslim-owned or not.