Southampton Business Startups

Southampton is the largest city on the south coast of England, famous for its maritime industries and developments. The Southampton docks are huge, mainly catering for cruise ships and luxury liners, but they also house various container terminals for freight ships. The docks are a hive of activity, providing huge employment opportunity for the city's 225,000 inhabitants. The West Quay shopping centre is one of the largest of its kind in the country, opened in 2000 as part of the major West Quay redevelopment programmed, and houses many major high street brands, as well as an array of houses, further shops, offices and leisure facilities' currently in the pipeline.

Southampton was recently also granted a large casino license, with the view of helping the economy further. The city is also home to Southampton Football Club, commonly known as ‘The Saints', who play in the second tier of England's top leagues. Their stadium, St Mary's, was built in the early part of this century, and has a capacity of over 32,000 people. Despite losing narrowly in the Championship play offs this season, the football club has a huge following and plays a big part in the city culture. Southampton University is made up of over 40,000 students and is hailed as one of the top ten research led universities in the United Kingdom. The nightlife is an important part of the city's make-up, and with over 18 nightclubs and many more pubs and bars, everything you need from a city is here. Musically, Southampton is strongly represented, with both Craig David and Coldplay drummer Will Champion local residents.

Business is booming in Southampton with many new businesses in the area. Starting a business can be a very daunting prospect and with expert help most businesses go bust with in the first few years. You may also need some financial assistance, which is where Business Angels might be the right move for you. Angels are often from an entrepreneurial background, and are willing to invest their own capital into a business to help it achieve its growth plans. Unlike banks and other forms of lending, the Angel will invest in your company in return for a percentage share, or equity stake. On top of this they will provide you with their own industry knowledge, expertise and contacts, in order to further help your growth in the market. With this hands on approach by the investor, it is important that a good relationship is developed between you and the Business Angel, as they look to secure a good return on their investment. Individually, Angels are normally willing to invest between £75,000 and £250,000, but if they operate as part of syndicate then this figure could easily be higher.