BRIGHTON has been revealed as one of the best places in the UK to start a new business.

A new study by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance analysed 25 UK cities, looking at average salary, cost of office space, number of grants available and the price of a coffee to determine which cities are the best for new businesses.

Brighton received a score of 127 out of 200, placing it third overall.

Belfast took top spot with a score of 153 out of 200, followed by Leicester which scored 130.

Brighton ranked highly due to its fast broadband speeds and high start-up rate.

It also has one of the highest rates of graduates among its workforce than any other city.

Belfast beat the seaside city to top spot due to its cheap utility bills and cheap office space costs

It also has more grants available for businesses than any other city in the UK - 118 in total.

The top 20 UK cities to start a new business is below:

1. Belfast

2. Leicester

3. Brighton

4. Norwich

5. Portsmouth

6. Edinburgh

7. Southampton

8. Plymouth

9. Cardiff

10. Derby

11. Nottingham

12. Sheffield

13. Birmingham

14. Glasgow

15. Sunderland

16. Newcastle

17. Liverpool

18. Bradford

19. Coventry

20. Manchester

21. London

22. York

23. Bristol

24. Leeds

25. Oxford

Despite being the city with the highest percentage of highly skilled workers, London’s high average salary and cost of office space meant it ranked lower than some may expect.

Leeds, which is the city with the UK’s most expensive cup of coffee, finished second from bottom with a score of 78, while Oxford was revealed as the worst city in the UK to start a new business with a score of just 67 out of 200.

The city has one of the higher average salaries in comparison to other UK cities and the lowest number of grants available for businesses.

Andy Dodd, managing director at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, said when it comes to starting up a new business, a lot of people think London is the place to be.

“While there are definitely a lot of opportunities in the capital, our study shows if you’re looking to start up and scale your business, it’s worth looking further afield when deciding where to locate your new venture,” he said.

“One thing we noticed in particular when carrying out our research was the number of grants available to many startups across the UK, which can be a great way of injecting much needed cash into a new business.

“Cities in Northern Ireland and Scotland both have at least twice the amount as some cities in England, which is one of the reasons why Belfast and Edinburgh are so high on the list.”