Study shows where most ambitious people live in the UK

Wales comes out top in research by leadership and management training provider

Bangor in North Wales is home to the most ambitious people in the UK. That’s according to research from Corporate Coach Group.

The leadership and management training provider analysed Google search data for the final three months of 2020 to establish where in the UK residents were most likely to be searching for the tools and knowledge to achieve their personal and professional goals this year.

Search terms in the Most Ambitious Cities study included ‘how to get a promotion’, ‘how to be successful’ and ‘how to set goals’.

The search volume of each of these was then compared to population size to establish the likelihood of people in each city to search for self-improvement tips.

Sarah Ellwood, managing director of Bangor-based recruitment agency Supertemps, says: “There are so many good ingredients to the recipe of success in Bangor. Just look at where we are - surrounded by the sea, the Menai Strait and the currently snow-capped mountains of Snowdonia, what’s not to like?

“I think there’s a particularly entrepreneurial spirit in this area of North Wales. People will give it a go. And probably the fact that Bangor is a university city helps too - I think this adds to the air of expectation and ambition.

“We have some great businesses, great people and great facilities in and around Bangor - look at M-SParc just a few miles away - dedicated to helping tech businesses thrive. It’s a great place.”

Truro, Salisbury, Chester and Inverness ranked second-fifth most ambitious cities in the UK, while Lincoln, Bath, Londonderry, Durham and St Albans placed six-ten.

When comparing the data across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, it was Wales that took top spot when it came to ambitions in 2021.

Welsh residents were on average more than twice as likely to search for advice on how to achieve their personal and professional goals this year, compared to those throughout the rest of the UK.

Chris Farmer, leadership and management training expert and founder of Corporate Coach Group, says: “During difficult times, it’s vital that we stay positive because when we have a positive mental attitude we solve problems much faster.

“The best way to create a positive mental attitude is to set ambitious goals. Having an ambitious goal gives us a specific target to aim at, which empowers us to make the future better than the past.

“Ambition is the starting point of all achievement: when people have ambition, they have something good to talk about, plan for and act upon.

“With the current situation we’re all in, it’s easy to lose motivation and slip into bad habits.

“Setting ambitious goals is the proven way to keep minds positive, focused and confident. It’s great to see from our research that so many people are being proactive in searching for advice, which will help them to be successful in 2021 and beyond.”