Where is the CEO capital of the UK?

 

CEOs are undeniably instrumental in steering companies towards sustainable growth, and therefore lending a hand in contributing to the vibrancy of the British business landscape.

And while CEOs can be found all over the UK, are they naturally drawn to certain regions more than others? Here at TonerGiant, we analysed census data from the Office for National Statistics, looking at nearly 130,000 CEOs from across the country, to find the answer.

 

 

Where in the UK has the most CEO’s?

 

Surrey is the CEO capital of the UK, having a total of 6,217 CEO’s, making up almost 5% of all of the UK’s CEOs.

 

%

Surrey

%

Hertfordshire

%

Westminster

%

Kent

%

Hampshire

 

Hertfordshire ranks second, having 4,060 CEOs, whilst Westminster comes in third, with 3,701 CEOs in the London borough.

The north-south divide is evident in the findings – no northern areas are included in the top 20 CEO list.

In fact, Lancashire is home to the most CEOs in a northern region, having 1,327, but only coming in 27th place in the data analysed. Still, Surrey has almost five times as many CEOs as those in Lancashire.

 

Rank Area Total
1 Surrey 6217
2 Hertfordshire 4060
3 Westminster 3701
4 Kent 3592
5 Hampshire 3579
6 Kensington and Chelsea 3359
7 Essex 3295
8 Wandsworth 3053
9 Buckinghamshire 2705
10 Oxfordshire 2573
11 Camden 2321
12 Richmond upon Thames 2191
13 West Sussex 2134
14 Tower Hamlets 2106
15 Cambridgeshire 2002
16 Southwark 1989
17 Lambeth 1942
18 Hammersmith and Fulham 1915
19 Barnet 1884
20 Islington 1683
21 Bromley 1511
22 Gloucestershire 1451
23 Hackney 1401
24 North Yorkshire 1345
25 Lancashire 1327
26 Warwickshire 1326
27 Ealing 1309
28 Devon 1246
29 Wiltshire 1244
30 Suffolk 1240
31 Greenwich 1234
32 Cheshire East 1229
33 East Sussex 1188
34 Norfolk 1165
35 Lewisham 1121
36 Haringey 1120
37 Nottinghamshire 1116
38 Derbyshire 1106
39 Merton 1103
40 Staffordshire 1098
41 Windsor and Maidenhead 1080
42 Leicestershire 1062
43 Worcestershire 991
44 Brighton and Hove 966
45 Leeds 956
46 Brent 936
47 Croydon 925
48 Birmingham 923
49 Hounslow 874
50 Somerset 866
51 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 836
52 Kingston upon Thames 820
53 Lincolnshire 809
54 Harrow 806
55 West Northamptonshire 793
56 Newham 791
57 Bristol, City of 779
58 Redbridge 768
59 Cheshire West and Chester 714
60 Cornwall 711
61 Enfield 684
62 Waltham Forest 679
63 Wokingham 678
64 Dorset 677
65 Manchester 648
66 Bath and North East Somerset 626
67 Trafford 613
68 West Berkshire 602
69 Central Bedfordshire 597
70 Sheffield 577
71 Sutton 570
72 Milton Keynes 558
73 Hillingdon 551
74 Shropshire 544
75 Northumberland 532
76 Cardiff 529
77 Havering 478
78 East Riding of Yorkshire 472
79 North Northamptonshire 450
80 Bradford 449
81 Liverpool 446
82 County Durham 445
83 Bexley 443
84 Stockport 435
85 Solihull 424
86 Kirklees 421
87 Wirral 399
88 Southend-on-Sea 384
89 York 378
90 North Somerset 366
91 Newcastle upon Tyne 365
92 Herefordshire, County of 358
93 Bedford 346
94 Reading 341
95 South Gloucestershire 341
96 Sefton 335
97 Westmorland and Furness 335
98 Bracknell Forest 310
99 Warrington 308
100 Vale of Glamorgan 307

 

 

Commenting on the findings, Stuart Deavall from TonerGiant said:

 

“It’s striking to see the sheer difference in CEOs living in the north versus the south. Although our research doesn’t identify where CEOs were born, it signifies that the southern region’s close proximity to London has meant that it has become a flourishing economic hub, ideal for CEOs and other senior executives to situate themselves.”

 

Summary

 

 

Despite some businesses deciding to move their HQs outside of London and up north, our research has highlighted that there are still regional disparities and inequalities in the UK, signalling that potentially more dedicated investment is needed to expand the economic growth further than London.”

 

 

Methodology

 

The Office of National Statistics was used to identify the number of chief executives and senior officials, mapped out via upper tier areas.

The full data was sourced and correct as of 06.03.24. The full data set is available upon request.

 

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