This report, written by John Taylor, Anne-Marie Davies and Andrea Westall , is the fourth and final annual Inner City 100 Index, a listing of the top 100 firms located in the UK’s most deprived wards. It highlights the remarkable impact that enterprise is having in the UK’s poorest postcodes, and the barriers still limiting its potential.

As this New Economics Foundation (nef) research reveals, the urban renaissance that the enterprises listed on the Index have helped to create threatens to drive a number of the companies from their inner city locations. Spiralling rents and property prices are forcing businesses to re-locate, for example, from inner city areas, undermining regeneration and weakening the enterprise base. Half of these companies believe, however, that leaving their current inner city location would have a negative effect on their business.

To rectify this anomaly, nef recommends that land should be held in trust in regeneration areas to enable job and wealth creation to benefit those that live and work locally. This would also better enable the development of flexible and affordable premises for local businesses. Other proposals to support inner city enterprise include an Enterprise and Regeneration Tax Credit to encourage more firms to have an even greater positive social and economic impact on their local area, and a subsidised voucher scheme for growth businesses in disadvantaged areas to provide better access to appropriate business support.