1-    Location, Location, Location

With landlords charging ever more outrageous figures for rent, and with the general cost of doing business in UK cities being so high, it should come as no surprise that more and more businesses are looking at relocating to cut their expenses. Although you may not initially think of Bolton as a prime location for relocating or starting your company, it’s actually the perfect environment for a multitude of different businesses.

Many of the businesses that are choosing to relocate, in their efforts to cut expenses and increase competitivity, often ending up settling in the north of the country. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main pulls of northern England is its close proximity to Northern Powerhouses such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. These cities tend to offer new start-ups access to huge markets with a far more reasonable cost of doing business.

With that being said, these Northern Powerhouses can still be expensive locations to conduct business, especially for brand-new start-ups – that’s why Bolton is such a fantastic location. Located roughly half an hour away from central Manchester, and only an hour away from both Leeds and Liverpool, Bolton offers local business owners a wealth of unique opportunities to grow.

With many people working in nearby large cities, but unable to afford to live in them, Bolton has in many ways become a very large commuter town – with many people living in Bolton but in fact, working elsewhere. There are therefore plenty of opportunities for new start-ups in Bolton to offer their services to a vast number of locally-based cash-rich young professionals.

2 – It’s Well Connected

Bolton’s central location to Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool makes it a popular commuter town in the north of England. Thankfully the town makes thorough use of its central location and is accordingly well connected to these nearby Northern Powerhouses.

If you’re travelling by car simply make use of the M61 and you’ll be in Manchester, Leeds or Liverpool in no time. Using the motorway, Manchester is roughly half an hour away from Bolton, and Leeds and Liverpool are just under an hour away. Furthermore, with immediate access to the motorway, it’s no wonder Bolton is a brilliant location for companies reliant on freight transport services.

However, perhaps you’re looking at starting up a consultancy or sales-based business? These industries often require access to efficient public transport services in order to reach clients all over the country. Thankfully, Bolton Interchange, a combined train and bus station, offers regular public transport connections to destinations across the north of England – it’s also possible to reach London within two and a half hours from the station.

3 – The Area Brings in Lots of Tourists

With such great connections to a whole range of destinations across the country, coupled with the fact Bolton is surrounded by vast swathes of beautiful northern countryside, it should come as no surprise that the town is a hotspot for regional tourism.

With locations such as Rivington, Barrow Bridge, Jumbles Country Park, Smithills Country Park and Moses Gate Country Park all nearby, the town plays host to a number of regional visitors, especially during the summer months. If your start-up is more geared towards offering a service, such as a coffee shop, restaurant or another shop of some kind, you’ll definitely be able to make brilliant use of the seasonal tourism in and around the Bolton area.

As many regional tourists come for day trips in and around Bolton, as well as a large residential population of regional commuters, there are fantastic opportunities for businesses providing services throughout the year.

4 –  Bolton is seeing increased development

With the increasing growth of Northern Powerhouses such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, it appears that local government has also sensed an opportunity in Bolton. Only last month on the 18^th of April, 2019, Bolton Council’s Planning Committee green-lighted the £150 million Church Wharf Development project.

The project aims to construct roughly 352 new city centre properties, a new hotel, and commercial offices, as well as leisure and retail opportunities. David Burkinshaw of Muse Development, the company responsible for the proposal, said: “Church Wharf is the first project of this scale to be brought forward under Bolton Council’s wider plan to regenerate the town centre…”, with Bolton Council’s Director of Place, Gerry Brough, adding that: “We’re one step closer to achieving our vision in our £1.2 billion masterplan.”

Regardless of what you make of Muse Development’s architectural plans, it’s hard to deny that there is clearly a considerable amount of growth occurring and planned to occur in Bolton in the foreseeable future. This growth may lead to a whole array of opportunities if you do decide to start your business in Bolton.

5 – SureStore Bolton

Another great reason to launch your start-up in Bolton is, of course, us! SureStore has recently launched an incredibly flexible and highly cost-efficient office space solution in Bolton. Our spacious units can be rented and used as affordable offices for Bolton-based start-ups. Furthermore, our SureStore office spaces include free Wi-Fi, free parking, free security and surveillance as well as no utility bills or business rates – just one simple monthly bill with flexible terms.

In fact, our SureStore office space in Bolton is so flexible that we have clients ranging from big businesses who are sick of expensive overheads, through to freelancers who’ve just had enough of spending their entire day in a coffee shop. We also offer comprehensive trade counters, for start-ups looking to offer a customer-facing experience when selling their goods.

Even if you’re not looking to use our premises to run your start-up, SureStore can help you and your business. We work with a multitude of companies in an around the Bolton area, offering affordable and highly secure storage solutions service to a range of businesses. Although we offer more standard services such as securing excess stock, we can also help companies secure important files and documents that need archiving.

As you can see, there are plenty of great reasons for starting your new business in Bolton! Regardless of whether you’re selling products or services, SureStore are here to help your business start-up! So, what are you waiting for? Get in contact with SureStore Bolton today!