Harpenden is in the bottom five regions in the East of England constituencies with lowest average annual turnover per business, according to new research.

The latest research by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) involved creating the ‘BAS Business Heat Map’, which analyses average annual turnover of businesses according to the constituency in which they are based.

The findings, released by the ICAEW’s Business Advice Service, show the national average turnover for a British business is £505,644.33.

The constituency of South West Hertfordshire comes top of the list for the region, with a total of 5,750 businesses within its boundaries, followed by Saffron Walden (5,685) and Hertsmere (5,440).

However, Hitchen and Harpenden ranked in the bottom five with an average turnover of £417,455.28.

The analysis covers all VAT and/or PAYE based enterprises in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) split by country, region and constituency, as taken from data supplied by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).