Birmingham has come out on top for business growth according to a survey of 3,000 businesses by Growth Accelerator.

Growth Accelerator, a national business advice service aimed at fostering change, has found that of the 3,000 firms surveyed more were located in Birmingham than any other region of Britain.

Birmingham came ahead of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Bristol with companies in the software market and business services performing particularly well. The survey indicates that other businesses centres outside of London are performing particularly well, with Brighton and Hove and County Durham also featuring in the top ten.

Simon Littlewood, Director of GrowthAccelerator said: “Whilst the business locations identified are showing distinct levels of ambition and positivity amongst firms there, it’s clear that the appetite for growth is not limited to specific regions.”

Mr Littlewood added: “Independent of where they are located, we are seeing a common need among these firms for national and international market connections, with 88 per cent expecting to grow their businesses through new market entry.”

Even though the majority of the businesses working with Growth Accelerator in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester were found to be over ten-years-old all had plans for growth in the future.