Set up new premises for financial, professional and business services

How to find premises and decide on the best location to expand your financial professional and business services business in the UK.

Financial, professional and business clusters

The UK is a global centre for international and sustainable finance. It is a leading capital market with the largest asset management and specialty insurance sector in Europe, including fintech and professional services.

The City of London website includes reports and statistics as well as opportunities in these sectors.

While London hosts the UK’s largest cluster of international financial and related professional services activity, there are other significant centres of financial activity throughout the UK. Two out of every three jobs in financial services are outside of London.

Centres of excellence

Birmingham

Home to one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing financial, professional and business service clusters, Birmingham is one of the most important locations for high-value shared service centres. The sector employs over 355,000 workers and the region’s newly established fintech sector hosts over 120 new companies.

Find out more about investment opportunities on the Invest West Midlands website

Bristol and Bath

The two cities have core strengths in retail banking, insurance, share dealing, asset management, ethical finance, and legal services. Employing over 33,500 workers, Bristol and Bath have the highest density of fintech start-up and scale-up firms of any region outside London.

Learn about key sectors in the region on the Invest Bristol and Bath website

Leeds City region

This leading hub, comprising of Leeds, Halifax and Bradford, has a growing talent pool of over 300,000 employees.

Leeds has one of the UK’s fastest-growing legal sectors and has established itself as a major law hub behind London. The city is also home to the state-owned UK Infrastructure Bank, which provides finance to tackle climate change.

Learn more on the UK Infrastructure Bank website

Find out how your business can be supported on the Invest in Leeds City Region website

Manchester

The city is a base for several banks, over half of which are owned by overseas businesses. The sector employs more than 280,000 people, accounting for 20% of the local economy.

The surrounding region hosts one of the largest legal services centres outside London and is also home to a significant general insurance community and a growing broker base. It has a major fintech ecosystem with over 80 fintechs and an array of innovation hubs, accelerators and incubators.

Read about the financial and business services ecosystem on the Invest in Manchester website

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has become a leading global location for financial services investment, with over 45,000 employed in these sectors. It is also one of the fastest growing, with several international financial institutions and professional services firms choosing Northern Ireland as the location for their UK delivery centres.

Learn about sector expertise on the Invest Northern Ireland website

Scotland

Scotland has strengths across all subsectors including banking, insurance, life and pensions, asset management, servicing and fintech. With around 160,000 employed in these sectors, Scotland also has a wealth of talent in legal, accountancy and tax services.

Find out more about financial services in Scotland on the Scottish Financial Enterprise website

Find private office space

The UK has a competitive market of specialised serviced office companies, professional services companies and virtual office providers, all ensuring costs for are kept low for clients.

Virtual offices allow companies to meet any legal obligation to have a registered address in the UK, without paying for a physical office.

Your solicitor or accountant may allow you to use their address until you find office premises.

You can compare prices for office or other space on commercial property search engines, such as Estates Gazette and office advisory service websites like Instant Offices or Flexi Offices.

Next steps

Find more information about innovation hubs, accelerators and incubators in our guide to incentives, funding and support in the UK.