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Gen Z: 1 in 5 want to start a business in London

Over a fifth of young working-age adults want to start a business in London, according to a poll commissioned by Mushroombiz.

The SME services provider’s research found 21% of Londoners have ambitions to launch a business in 2021, compared with a national average of 15% of 18 to 24-year-olds.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic – and perhaps because of it – the number of new business start-ups in the second half of 2020 was significantly higher than the year before.

In July alone, over 80,000 new businesses were registered in the UK, and the survey found 19% of young workers thought about starting a business for the first time during 2020.

Ed Surman, managing director of Mushroombiz, said: “This reality has forced many young people to re-evaluate their futures and become their own boss.”

Taking control of career prospects

The results are an indication that more working-age under-25s are grasping their own careers as the economic impact of the pandemic starts to become apparent.

Before the Coronavirus outbreak, unemployment in the UK stood at 4%. It is now expected to peak in mid-2021 at 7.5%, according to the OBR.

At the same time, Generation Z are taking advantage of the ability to start a business from home during lockdown, and Mr Surman reported “a huge uptick in the number of tech start-ups, passion projects and side hustles started in university dorm rooms in the latter half of 2020”.

Based on the number of survey respondents who said they want to start a business in 2021, and scaling up to the UK population, a possible 800,000 new start-ups could be launched by the end of the year.

How to start a business in London

If you’re hoping to start a business in London in 2021, our serviced offices in London‘s Canary Wharf district are an affordable and scalable way to get professional premises.

With meeting rooms for hire on-site, you can meet clients, job candidates and potential investors in private, smart surroundings whenever you need to step away from the office itself.

As you grow, you can expand into more space on the same premises – or open a northern branch from our serviced offices in Manchester and Salford Quays.

Build a business from your bedroom

With the option of virtual offices in London and Manchester, you can start a business in either location – or both – without needing to physically be there.

As social distancing measures are likely to remain in place to some extent throughout much of 2021, it’s the perfect opportunity to launch a business remotely using virtual office contact details.

Once conditions improve, you can book meeting rooms at the same address as your virtual office, at our premises in Manchester and London, for any face-to-face meetings you need to hold.

And as your business grows in the years ahead, you’ll be able to consider taking some physical space in our serviced offices in London and Manchester, to make the transition from a bedroom-based new start-up to a fully fledged physical SME with its own workforce.