Worthing and Brighton and Hove are two of the top ten places to do business in the country, according to a new survey.

Worthing is ranked fifth and Brighton and Hove is sixth out of 74 UK towns and cities in the Santander bank’s UK Town and City Index.

Experts say the two Sussex hotspots benefit from more private businesses per capita, a higher number of start-up businesses and a higher than average business survival rate than most UK towns and cities.

The study, conducted by Professor Francis Greene, of Birmingham Business School at the University of Birmingham, scores the two highly for connectivity due to the speed and quality of the broadband coverage.

A spokesman for Santander said the source for the connectivity statistics is the regulator, Ofcom.

He said: “The connectivity category is made up of two measures – broadband speed and broadband uptake.

"In other words, the town has, relative to the rest of the UK, very good broadband uptake and broadband speeds.”

Great connection

Adam Stafford, managing director at digital media company Fresh Egg, in Buckingham Road, Worthing, said: “This was one reason for Fresh Egg setting up within the area.

“Internet connectivity has always been sound and reliable and it is critical to our business. Only recently we opened a satellite office in London and have been amazed at the difference of service.

“We have been a customer of Virgin since opening our new HQ in the centre of Worthing and the service has been robust and dependable from day one – we simply couldn’t operate if this wasn’t the case.”

Gwyn Price, regional director at Santander Corporate and Commercial, said: “Sussex has emerged as one of the best places in the country for businesses with Brighton and Worthing both appearing in the top 10.

“They both offer many of the key ingredients that help to support their business communities and will have an important role to play in its future success.”

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