eBay 报告：大曼彻斯特欧洲小型企业线上活跃度居首

Greater Manchester is emerging as a leading European hub for online entrepreneurship, with eBay’s 2026 Small Business Report revealing the city region has the highest concentration of its small-business activity in the UK and across major European cities such as London, Paris and Berlin.

Greater Manchester’s ranking reflects a wider paradox: 31 of the 40 UK areas with the highest concentrations of eBay small‑business activity have GDP per head below the national average, showing online entrepreneurship is thriving beyond the UK’s expected economic hotspots.

Redrawing the economic map

The findings come as Greater Manchester’s experience of devolved, locally-led growth informs the Government’s wider approach to driving growth across Britain. The research points to another dimension of Greater Manchester’s economic story: a deep base of digitally enabled entrepreneurs and small businesses building from local communities while reaching customers around the world.

The pattern extends across the North and Midlands. The North West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and East Midlands occupy the top four places respectively for the concentration of eBay small-business activity, despite ranking fifth, ninth, eighth and tenth for GDP per head. London, by contrast, leads the UK for GDP per head but ranks sixth for the concentration of eBay small-business activity.

While these businesses are rooted in their communities across Britain, their customer base increasingly extends far beyond them. eBay’s scale and global reach is helping these small businesses overcome traditional barriers of geography and scale to trade internationally. 95% of UK eBay small businesses exported in 2024, selling to an average of 18 international markets, three times the six reached by traditional UK exporters, and collectively reaching 215 countries and territories.

This research shows that the business potential, and the talent, already exists often in places that have traditionally struggled with GDP. The opportunity is to help more of these businesses scale by giving SMEs the tools and confidence to adopt technology, reach customers overseas, invest, grow and create jobs locally. If we can lift SME growth by just one percentage point a year, that could add £320bn to the economy by 2030.

– Eve Williams, General Manager, eBay UK

Ahead of the Budget, eBay is calling on ministers and regional mayors to put small online businesses at the heart of local growth plans. The opportunity is not only to attract new investment, but to help businesses already rooted in communities across the North and Midlands expand – reaching more customers and building sustainable incomes and local employment. For the full 2026 Small Business Report from eBay please visit: Small Business, Big Opportunity Report | eBay Main Street