Directors heading out of London

Company directors are abandoning London and the south-east in favour of the rest of the country, according to research from KDB.

The survey suggests that while London still retains the biggest percentage of company directors compared with the rest of the country (10.4% against an average of 5.9%), the trend from 2004 to 2007 was to move away from the capital.

While the proportion of the population who are directors has fallen in London and the south-east, the percentage living in the Midland, north-east and north-west has all increased. High-growth areas include Bolton, Preston and Northampton.

KDB puts this trend down to the growth of telecommunications technology, which allows people to run a business from almost anywhere.

It also points out that this trend will have a notable impact on the amount councils receive in tax each year, as company directors pay over £5.7bn in council tax and have basic pay worth £200bn a year.