Stockport, Manchester and Trafford among top locations outside London for a finance career

The Greater Manchester local authorities of Stockport, Manchester, and Trafford have all been named among the top locations to start a career in finance outside the capital, according to research by trading company, CMC Markets.

While London dominates the UK’s financial services sector, CMC Markets’ found that other major conurbations offered next-best opportunities, with many less populous towns like Stockport also punching well above their weight in terms of the density of finance jobs available.

Research analysed the latest ONS data for finance enterprise across 342 UK districts outside the capital, revealing that 63% of British firms offering financial services alone, excluding insurance and pension funding, are located outside London.

Edinburgh tops the list for best places outside London for a career in finance, with around 310 firms and 527,620 residents calling it their home. It is also the only other place outside London that hosts large firms with over a thousand employees each. With a population of 1,144,900, Birmingham ranks second for finance enterprises, with around 265 firms located here, although none hire more than 250 staff, while the City of Manchester ranked third.

The ranking also revealed ‘wildcard’ smaller localities that boast an established finance sector than many much larger cities, including Trafford, Stockport, Milton Keynes, and Solihull.

While Trafford with 130 firms based in the borough made the top 15 locations outside London for starting a finance career, Stockport secured special mention in the research’s findings for having a stand out for the number of medium (up to 249 employees) or large (over 250 workers) firms, and placing them ahead of much more populous cities and regions, such as Bradford and Cornwall.

Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets commented on the findings:

“We were pleased to find out that these finance-friendly places are not necessarily the most populous cities in the UK. London is extremely competitive and the lifestyle is not everyone’s cup of tea, so it is refreshing to know where the best places to pursue a career in finance are that are way off the beaten path.”