Newport has been named the best startup city in Wales in a new study exploring the entrepreneurial potential of all 69 cities in Britain.

According to researchers, Newport’s cheap commercial property, affordable accommodation and great broadband service all helped it to outshine more established business centres like Cardiff and Edinburgh. Across the UK, Newport finished 28th out of 69 cities.

Cardiff came in second in Wales, missing out on the top spot for its more expensive office space.

Cardiff finished 40th nationally, followed by Swansea at number 45. St David’s, Bangor and St Asaph finished 52nd, 57th and 62nd, respectively.

Derby came in number one in the whole of the UK for its extensive enterprise support network and low cost of living.

The all-encompassing study, carried out by London-based company formation experts Quality Formations, was designed to demonstrate the misguided importance entrepreneurs seem to place upon starting up companies in the UK’s biggest cities.

Rebecca Honnan, customer service manager at Quality Formations, said: “In conducting this study, we wanted to show aspiring entrepreneurs that starting up in London isn’t a prerequisite for business success. In fact, when it comes to startup costs and overheads, some of the UK’s smaller and medium-sized cities are actually far more supportive and competitive.

"After reviewing all of the key criteria, it was little wonder Newport finished miles ahead of Cardiff in terms of business desireability.”

Above all else, was Newport’s healthy commercial property sector that helped the city maintain a competitive edge over Cardiff.

Averaging £22 per square foot, Newport offers prime commercial lets for 25 per cent cheaper than the Welsh capital.

Virtual office prices are also cheaper in Newport than they are in Swansea or Cardiff – with the typical monthly cost of telephone answering and mail forwarding services coming in at £100.

James Howell, compliance executive at Quality Formations, said: “When young business founders are contemplating where to start up in Wales, Cardiff inevitably springs to mind first. But if those same entrepreneurs tried looking just 15 minutes up the road, they would definitely be impressed by what Newport has got to offer.

“Not only are overheads like commercial rent and virtual office services cheaper in Newport than they are in Cardiff, but the city also enjoys a lower crime rate and cheaper accommodation."

This two-week study was carried out by a team of company formation experts at Quality Formations, one of the UK’s leading company formation agents.

Data was obtained through official sources where possible: primarily the UK, Scottish and Northern Irish Governments. Where no government figures were available, Quality Formations turned to industry leaders in data collection, including: Rightmove, Cable.co.uk and multiple property and investment experts.

After all data had been collated, each city was ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 within each subcategory. The sum of all subcategories became each city’s score in a given category. Following the grading of each category, total scores were tallied and cities were ranked accordingly. Where necessary, tying scores were broken based upon the desirability of each contesting city’s commercial property sector.