The decentralisation of UK startups is accelerating.

New research from virtual office solutions provider, Hoxton Mix, shows that six in ten new businesses (60 per cent) now launch outside Central London, compared to just over a third (35 per cent) in 2017, with Harrow, Kingston and Croydon outpacing northern hubs like Birmingham and Manchester.

The Virtual Office & Startup Trends Report 2026 examined 48,310 virtual office subscriptions, across 117 locations in the UK from 2017 onwards uncovering key SME and startup trends.

More than 10,300 virtual office sign-ups were recorded between January and December 2025 which is a strong indicator of new business formation, particularly among remote-first professional services and creative firms that commuter belt towns in Surrey, Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire are emerging as major startup hotspots, challenging the traditional dominance of the capital.

Seven of the top 10 locations are London regions, showing founders still strongly value a London business presence.

East London is crowned the virtual office capital of the UK with 927 subscriptions last year and 2,440 since 2017.

It confirms that areas within the EC postcode such as Silicon Roundabout (Old Street, Hoxton and Shoreditch), Here East and Poplar Works create the perfect startup hub thanks to their creative culture, lower flexible rents and high-density networking.

However, when taking the lens away from central London, the report found that the postcode of KT in Kingston came in second place for UK regions outside of Central London with 192 subscriptions in 2025/26.

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And in first place was Harrow with 200 subscriptions, with Croydon coming in third place with 190 subscriptions.

Also included in the top ten regions outside of Central London were Romford (fourth), Birmingham (fifth), Ilford (sixth) Guilford (seventh), Twickenham (eighth), and Dartford (ninth).