Manchester Leads the UK in AI Readiness for Second Year, According to 2025 SAS AI Cities Index

Manchester Leads the UK in AI Readiness for Second Year, According to 2025 SAS AI Cities Index

(IN BRIEF) Manchester has been named the UK’s most AI-ready city for 2025, topping the SAS AI Cities Index for the second consecutive year. The city excels in AI-related job opportunities, funding, education, and business activity. Other cities like Leeds, St Albans, and Dundee have also shown significant progress, highlighting the growing regional innovation in the AI sector. The findings align with the UK government’s AI Action Plan to support AI development beyond major cities.

(PRESS RELEASE) MARLOW, 30-Apr-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — For the second year in a row, Manchester has been recognized as the UK’s most AI-ready city, according to the 2025 SAS AI Cities Index. The city has once again topped the rankings due to its strong performance in key areas such as job opportunities, innovation funding, education, and business activity in the AI sector.

The annual index, produced by the data and AI company SAS, evaluated cities based on seven criteria, including the number of AI-related jobs, academic courses in AI, AI-focused businesses, and innovation funding. Manchester emerged as the clear leader, with the highest number of AI-related jobs within a five-mile radius and an average of £77,000 in Innovate UK funding for AI projects per qualifying company.

The city’s top ranking suggests it could become an official AI Growth Zone under the UK Government’s AI Action Plan, which aims to drive economic growth, improve public services, and enhance national security by supporting regional innovation.

Manchester’s influence in the AI sector is complemented by Salford, which placed fifth in the index. The city’s strong tech presence at MediaCity, home to major organizations like the BBC and ITV, helped it stand out for its fast broadband and AI events. Leeds moved into second place this year due to its robust academic offerings, while Dundee made the most significant leap, rising 41 places thanks to its growing AI courses and excellent broadband infrastructure.

Glyn Townsend, Senior Director of Education Services at SAS for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, commented: “Manchester’s continued leadership in AI readiness shows the potential of regional innovation. However, there’s an urgent need to extend support to smaller cities and towns. The government’s AI Action Plan must ensure that investment and opportunities are scaled to benefit all regions, not just the large urban centers.”

Methodology

SAS looked at seven key indicators, including:

• The number of AI-related jobs within a 5-mile radius, according to Indeed.
• The number of AI-related events within 25 miles, according to MeetUp.
• How many official Hackathons have taken place in each city in the last year.
• Average broadband speeds by city, using postcode data for business speeds from Compare The Market.
• The number of AI-related courses in each university, based on every course that came up with “artificial intelligence” in the course description when searching on all courses.
• The number of businesses based in each city with a focus on AI, according to LinkedIn.
• The average R&D investment spend in each city per business, according to InnovateUK.

SAS used this data and turned it into an index using a weighted scoring model to rank cities and London boroughs across these metrics to reveal a score out of 700. Data is correct as of March 2025.

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Media Contact:

David Smith
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David.C.Smith@suk.sas.com

SOURCE: SAS