Southend is a great place to start a business - and that's official.

The town has generated more new businesses per head of population than any other location in Britain outside London, with the single exception of Bournemouth.

A survey, by Barclays, revealed Southend start-up companies totalled 60 for every 10,000 of population between the ages of 16 and 59. In the line-up of dynamo-zones, Southend emerged just one unit behind Bournemouth, which was responsible for 61 start-ups.

Julian Frankland, small-business economist with Barclays, attributed the number of new companies to the lack of giant company employers in the area.

Published Monday, June 16, 2003

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