Starting a business in Dorchester

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Joanna Davies might not be a name that any most people will recognise. But she is the latest addition to the raft of small businesses in Dorchester Dorset.

After 12 months of applying for jobs without success she has decided to set up shop for herself – a tea shop to be precise.

The Gilded Teapot has opened in the Tudor Arcade. It also had support from Dorchester’s establishment. Mayor Les Phillips opened the shop and offered some word of encouragement to Ms Davies.

Why start a business in Dorchester?

The economic down-turn has without doubt taken it’s toll on the retail landscape of all towns and cities across the UK.

However, according to research by credit Insurer, Euler Hermes UK, firms in Dorchester are the least likely of all businesses in the UK to fail.

The town has the lowest insolvency rate in the UK (0.17%), and heads a list of 10 British towns and cities that includes Inverness (0.17%), Guildford (0.19%) and Canterbury (0.26%).

Profile of Dorchester

Population: 17,950 (estimate)
Crime rate – 5.9 (12.2 for England and Wales)

ACORN socio-economic classifications, 2009

Classification	Dorset	Dorchester
% Wealthy Achievers	43.1	18.6
% Urban Prosperity	3.1	9.7
% Comfortably Off	34.7	41.3
% Moderate Means	9.2	18.3
% Hard Pressed	9.1	12.1
% unclassified	0.8	0.0

Retail Profile

There are approximately 230 shops in Dorchester, covering 274,000 sq ft.

Some of the major high street brands include, Marks & Spencers, Next, Body Shop, Boots, Burtons, Argos, Laura Ashley, Monsoon, Waitrose, Focus, New Look. Out of Town Shopping Tesco, Halfords, Dreams, Currys.

Visit the council website for a more detailed profile of the Dorchester.

If you are interested in learning more about the historic town of Dorchester, Wikipedia is a good place to start.