Manchester has had the Most Businesses

Manchester has had the Most Businesses Created in the Past Two Years Than Any Other City

Manchester came out on top as the UK’s most entrepreneurial city, with a 23% increase in the number of businesses registered in 2021. This means one company was registered per every 31 people living in the city.

Ecommerce and real estate businesses have seen the biggest boom in Manchester

But what types of businesses are thriving in Manchester and how many have been started in the past year? Well, it looks like Ecommerce and Real Estate have taken the top spot.

The widespread switch to remote working and online shopping fuelled a digital transformation in the UK. This has also given aspiring entrepreneurs the final push needed to start their own businesses from home. After such many challenging years for businesses across the UK, Instant Offices has analysed Companies House data to work out which UK cities are fighting back with the strongest entrepreneurial spirit?

Instant Offices analysed the population to startup ratio across the country’s top cities to discover which locations saw the highest concentration of entrepreneurs in the last 12 months. The data revealed the top locations for entrepreneurs launching new ventures.

Type of Company Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet Buying and selling of own real estate Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets Take Other business support service activities n.e.c. Other service activities n.e.c. Management consultancy activities other than financial management Freight transport by road Development of building projects Number Registered 972 678 416 404 385 338 336

285

269 221

Full list of other cities are dominating their entrepreneurial growth:

City %Growth(YoY) Population Companies started in 2020 Manchester 23.9 554400 14083 Preston 24.6 99198 2316

Doncaster Bedford 26.9 114900 2416 1.9 92405 2172

Stockport Oldham Salford

12.3 110000 2080 3.3 105402 2114 20.4 116361 1928 Milton Keynes 14.8 184105 3021 Bolton 21.6 202369 3090

Companies started in 2021 17442 2889 3067 2214 2336 2184 2321 3469 3756 1597

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING FAT

Worried that eating fat causes weight gain? This article is for you

Catherine Dean is a Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach supporting women feel better, have more energy and ditch diets. Her approach to health and wellbeing isn’t about quick fixes or fad diets. It’s about helping you to create healthy habits that fit around your busy life, make a real difference and, most importantly, last in the long term.

Do you check food labels? What do you look out for? A client just told me she always chooses the lowest fat option and I immediately had a flashback to my dieting days where I would do exactly the same. Back then, you would find me in the supermarket aisles, scrutinising all the nutrition labels, making sure there was absolutely nothing high in fat in my trolley. I mistakenly thought that fat was not only unhealthy but would cause me to put on weight. Fast forward a few years and thankfully my approach to fat has completely changed. Now? I include healthy fats in my diet most days. In this month’s article I’ll be sharing with you why I’ve had a complete turnaround, what we mean by healthy fats and their health benefits.

When it comes to fat, it’s the type of fat we eat that matters and it matters a lot. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6 fats) are known as essential fats; our bodies can’t produce them, so it’s essential that we get them in our diet. Omega 3 and 6 fats produce hormone like substances known as eicosanoids which carry out functions, such as supporting brain function, cell growth, regulating inflammation and supporting our sleep cycle. Omega 3 fats are also thought to promote hearth health.

Monounsaturated fats, which are found in foods such as avocado and olive oil, also have numerous health benefits and have been shown to support weight loss, decrease insulin resistance and reduce inflammation.

When we add these healthy fats to our meals or snacks it helps us to feel more satisfied after eating, feel fuller for longer and can help to balance our blood sugar. Balancing our blood sugar is important when are trying to manage our weight and impacts on our long-term health. Foods such as nuts, seeds and avocado are also good sources of fibre which further increases feelings of fullness, regulates blood sugar and supports gut health. Eating foods that contain healthy fats can also support hormone health, which is especially important for us women.

Not all dietary fats have health benefits, however. The trans fats that we often find in highly processed foods can increase the risk of heart disease and increase insulin resistance, which can lead to type2 diabetes (look out for the words partially hydrogenated on packaging). Similarly, some saturated fats can be harmful if we combine them with a high-sugar diet and sedentary lifestyle.

WHAT ABOUT CALORIES?

Fat contains 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates, so you get more calories from high fat foods than foods high in carbs or protein. Purely looking at the calorie content of food doesn’t tell the whole story though. Some foods that are in high fat, such as nuts, seeds and avocado, are also good sources of fibre which increases feelings of fullness, regulates blood sugar and supports gut health. Don’t be scared of adding healthy fats into your diet, even if weight loss is your goal.

If you’re looking to including more healthy fats in your diet, these delicious, nutrient dense foods would be a great place to start:

• AVOCADO is a great source of fibre and the monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, which has been shown to reduce inflammation.

• SALMON is rich in omega 3 fats and an excellent source of B vitamins, many of which are essential in the process of metabolism. If we’re not getting enough of these nutrients in our diets, it means our metabolism isn’t able to work efficiently and can contribute to weight gain.

• EGGS are incredibly nutritious and a fantastic source of protein. Buy pasture-fed, free range eggs for a high amount of omega 3. Eggs also provide us with B12, essential for fat and carbohydrate metabolism.

• WALNUTS are a fantastic source of omega 3 and omega 6 fats, particularly if you don’t eat oily fish, as well as B6 which is essential in protein metabolism. • CHIA SEEDS contain omega 3 fats, fibre and magnesium, essential in several different stages of metabolism.

Healthy fats can support brain health, help to promote hormone health and help our body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K, which have a whole host of health benefits. If these foods aren’t already part of your diet, make it a priority to start adding them in. Don’t be scared to add these foods into your diet simply because they may be more calorie dense than food high in carbs and protein. The calorie content of food only tells a small part of the story.

If you’re ready to ditch diets, feel less stressed and have more energy a Nutrition & Coach could be exactly what you’re looking for. To find out how fully personalised nutrition coaching could help you to achieve your health and weight loss goals, head to: www.catherinedeancoaching.co.uk or email me: info@catherinedeancoaching.co.uk

Balance Counselling and Coaching Ltd PUT YOUR LIFE IN BALANCE

By Kathryn Taylor

TAKING THE FIRST STEP?

Ihave learnt over many years that it is our fear of the unknown or the fear of not being able to cope that is the cause of our anxiety. We cannot be anxious about things that are in the past, only about what is yet to come.

Many times in my life I have wasted time and missed opportunities focusing on what could be or what might be rather than taking action and doing something.

It may have been fear of failure in terms of putting myself forward for career progression, fear of rejection in terms of relationships or… fear of not being liked that made me anxious and held me back.

Anxiety can hold us back

What I have come to realise is that it is the anxiety that holds us back and keeps us stuck in the situation.

It was like that for me whenever I thought about doing something I hadn’t done before that put me in a position where I felt people could/would judge me and even though over the years I have faced up to and dealt with many challenging moments in my life, I still get those feelings when it comes to doing something inventive or new.

Most recently for me, this has shown up when I started to write my blogs and that is when the anxious feelings came straight back in. ‘Why would anyone want to read what I had to say?’

‘Would people think I was stupid?’

‘No one will be interested in what I have to say.’

‘If people don’t like what I have to say, it will negatively impact my business’

‘Why should anyone trust what I have to say about it’

‘Other people know more than me and are better at this, so whatever I do won’t be any good’

‘It’s too big a challenge, I will never be able to do that’

I could go on - thoughts like these can just keep building and circulating in your mind and all they serve to do is keep you stuck in a place where the anxiety builds, and you feel as if you’re immobilised and stuck.

What I do now when the feelings of anxiety hit

I listen to myself and ask myself the question ‘so what?’

‘So what’ if that happens? What am I afraid of? What would I do then? Have I faced this in the past? Did I get through it? (the answer is yes, because you’re here now.) What did I do then? What have I faced that is similar? What can I do now? What one thing would make me feel better right now? What else would make this better? And keep repeating the process and questions until I have a response and action to every possibility.

This takes the anxiety out of the situation because now I have a plan, I have a response.

I know what I can do in each situation. I know it’s not the unknown anymore which automatically reduces the tension around it.

Doing the above allowed me to stop procrastinating and get to a point where I could actually sit down and start to think about the process of writing the blog, something previously I had found every reason ‘under the sun’ not to start – including ironing, which I hate… however, I did need to also break it down into smaller steps, so as not to allow the anxiety back in and my feelings to spiral. So I processed it in bitesize sections.

What was my plan for writing a blog?

I took it one step at a time. I put a plan together and broke it down into realistic portions.

I chose a topic.

I set a deadline to complete it by.

I set a target of one paragraph a day for a week.

I set a date to post it by.

I told someone I was going to do it.

What happened next?

I chose my topic and started writing the first paragraph.

An hour later, I stopped and realised I had the first rough copy of my very own blog. Yes, it needed tweaking and tidying up before I felt it would be ready for sharing fully. But the thing I had put off for months and worried about doing and completing, that I had used every excuse I could think of not to do when it came to it had actually been quite simple. Yes, I hadn’t published it yet and that had its own challenges, but I had achieved it which made me feel good about myself and as always happens in these situations, I wondered why I had put it off for so long and allowed myself to get so worked up about it.

Posting it was my next challenge and having sent it to someone I trusted to read and let me have their feedback, I reminded myself of all the reasons I wanted to do this and how I would deal with anything that came back from it and pushed the button and posted it.

The response was completely the opposite of everything I had worried about, people thanked me for sharing my personal experience, they thanked me for sharing the tips on how to deal with difficult situations and focus on the issue, how to focus on facts and not emotions. They told me they couldn’t wait to read the next blog. They even asked where they could find my earlier blogs as they didn’t realise it was the first one I had done.

The blog I’m talking about is titled ‘What I learned from my son’ www.balancecounsellingandcoaching.co.uk/

post/what-have-i-learned-from-my-son

What are the things you feel anxious about today?

What one thing could you do now that would make a difference to you and when are you going to do it?

If you like the inspirational quotes included, they are from my ‘Moments of Inspiration’ card deck available from my website.