Bristol ranks top in BNP Paribas Real Estate’s UK Startup Index [1], outperforming cities like Cambridge, Leeds and Edinburgh. The south-west city leads on many metrics including talent pool, growth projections, productivity and infrastructure.

Talent Advantage

Bristol scores highest for its access to talent score, partly owed to its growing population (up 10.6% between 2012 and 2022), coupled with a projected 3.8% rise in its young, working-age population over the next 15 years (well above the UK average of -0.1%).

A highly educated population further strengthens its position, with 74% of the population educated to A-Level or equivalent. Over 14.1% of the city’s population (c.69,500) are enrolled at either the University of Bristol or University of the West of England, compared to an average share of 7.6% across the Big Six UK regional markets.

The influence of both universities is key to supporting the next generation of Bristol’s workforce and new businesses. This is an active objective for University of Bristol, who are developing Phase One of the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, a major innovation hub, opening September 2026.

Case Study: Business West, Bristol

“Bristol has historically taken some pride in being understated in its achievements in the tech and startup space – but its modesty belies an undeniably exciting depth and strength of the sector that is of national and international importance. For validation, see Bristol getting its own reference for Tech as a key national sector for the city in the UK’s Industrial Strategy.

“The combination of real talent pools across a breadth of cutting-edge areas, underpinned by a pipeline from world class Universities and a quality of life and cultural offer that attracts and retains people.

“As well as a range of startups, Bristol also has major global players, like Graphcore and Arm, and a name being made in AI owed to the opening of the UK’s largest supercomputer, Isambard AI, and Nvidia setting up its UK AI research centre in Bristol. This reflects a wider expertise in computer science in the Universities of Bristol and Bath and the historical legacy of firms such as HP and XMOS now bearing fruit. Bristol’s recently landed some very large FDI investments for European offices, based upon a characteristic offer that appeals to US and other investors – a liberal, University town, attractive and laid back, and with an authentic offer, from food, to outdoors, that makes people confident of a city big enough to attract and keep people here.”  Matt Griffith, Director of Policy, Business West.

Supportive Infrastructure for Startups

Bristol supports early-stage business development through its broad range of flexible workspaces, spanning incubators (including Oracle’s Startup Cloud Accelerator and NatWest’s Entrepreneur Accelerator) as well as a diverse mix of coworking spaces.

Coworking space has grown 29% in the last five years, supporting workspaces which encourage knowledge sharing and networking opportunities. However, it still only makes up a 4.4% share of Bristol’s total office footprint, trailing Manchester (5.5%) and Birmingham (5.4%). High occupancy rates across Bristol and the absence of major national operators (like Cubo, Gilbanks and X+Y) points to further growth potential going forward.

Startup Success Stories and Diversity 

Unlike some other cities where startup growth is driven by one specific industry, Bristol continues to boast a breadth of new industry sectors:

• AI/Tech: a focus area for both universities, expanding their research capabilities in the field. Notable spinout, Ultraleap (2013) has raised over £145 million for its haptic technology for virtual reality.

• Green Tech: Bristol boasts convincing green credentials, and is reflected in its startup network, spanning green aerospace technology like Vertical Aerospace, to pollution detection startup Anaphite, and vertical farming specialists LettUs Grow.

• Health tech: Expanding firms like CellVoyant and Micrima lead the way in the health tech space. As a growing priority for the city, University of Bristol submitted planning to develop the first lab-enabled office as part of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus. 

• Semiconductors: an established cluster in Bristol, led by unicorn Graphcore and a host of smaller scaleups, including Blue Wireless and University of Bristol spinout Xmos.

Beyond startups, Bristol is home to major firms such as Ovo Energy and law firms TLT LLP and Burges Salmon. Various international companies have picked Bristol for expansion opportunities too, including US healthcare company Epic who are developing a new campus, creating over 2,000 new life science jobs.

Looking Ahead – Where Could Bristol Improve?

Despite topping our UK Startup Index, there are other aspects where Bristol could make further improvements to support its startup ecosystem.

While extensive work has helped grow its cycle network in recent years, more could be done to improve the wider transport network. As announced in the June Spending Review, West of England will receive £800m in government funding, which will support improvements, but this level of funding still lags many other UK regions.

From an office sector perspective, Bristol prime rents are the highest across the regions at £49 per sq ft and expected to break the £50 per sq ft mark imminently. Average rents achieved have also outstripped the Big Six average by 25% since the start of 2024, posing affordability challenges for startups seeking high-quality space. The ongoing supply / demand imbalance of high-quality office space is exacerbating this, with its future development pipeline looking increasingly thin. 

Additionally, Bristol ranks 22nd in terms of average commercial EPC ratings, implying that reinvestment is required to bring existing office stock to Grade A standard and support the supply shortfall. However, viability concerns linked to construction and labour costs, as well as interest rates and returns will limit these opportunities in the short-term.

Kevin Hunt, Head of Bristol Office, adds “Bristol’s limited development pipeline for high-quality, city centre, Grade A offices continues to apply upwards pressure to prime rents, which now top the UK regional markets.

Occupiers are having to look further in advance of upcoming lease events in order to secure upgraded office space that aligns with their requirements (i.e. good sustainability credentials, amenity provision and improved client-facing space). BNP Paribas Real Estate recently embarked on a relocation to occupy 3,000 sq ft at Halo as part of its wider strategic UK portfolio upgrades.”

Sources:

Banner image: University of Bristol

[1] Using data from our Next X tool, BNP Paribas Real Estate has identified key startup markets utilising over 20 data metrics, covering themes including productivity, access to talent, connectivity, infrastructure and market dynamics.

ONS

Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus

University of Bristol

University of West England

Ultraleap

Epic Systems

UK Government