Moving to the UK

Expats moving to the UK do so for various reasons. Whatever your motivation may be, your move to the UK
holds the advantage that you won’t need to learn a new language from scratch. InterNations has lots of useful
information on moving to the UK, from life in London to UK visa regulations.

Many of its characteristics make moving to the UK an attractive option. As a business destination, the United
Kingdom, composed of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, has one major asset which outweighs
its counterparts in other European countries with similar living standards and working conditions: the
language. After all, English is the international language of business and trade taught in schools across the
globe.

The UK is a densely populated country, with a considerable share of its roughly 64.5 million people living in
the south of the UK. Just over 80% of the UK’s population consists of city dwellers. Great parts of Scotland and
Northern Ireland are less urbanized and less affluent leading to people leaving for the UK’s southern regions.

The "It" Places for Expats in the UK

If you are moving to the UK for academic reasons, you’ll discover that practically every city has at least one
university. All UK universities boast large numbers of international students who move to the UK from all
corners of the earth and are usually very well cared for. If you move to the UK to get a university degree,
moving to one of the UK’s smaller university towns can sometimes prove to be more rewarding for your social
life: most of these universities have a bit of a campus feel with university accommodation and even on-site
shopping facilities for students. You might also have heard of two relatively small towns whose academic
tradition has become world-renowned: Oxford and Cambridge. Despite their size, both UK towns attract
international business, tempting research-based ventures in the high-tech and medical industries to move to
the UK.

However, if you’re moving to the UK, you are most likely to end up in London. While historically speaking,
the UK’s status as an economic power rested firmly on trade and heavy industry, since World War II the focus
has been moving towards the tertiary sector. Today, the UK economy relies mainly on London’s status as one
of the leading financial centers of the world.

London — The Center of Everything

The country’s capital, with 8.6 million inhabitants being by far the largest city in the UK, is the seat of the
national government. It is also the leading financial and commercial center of the EU: in 2014 London hosted
40 percent of the European headquarters of top companies worldwide.London is truly multi-cultural with
people moving to the UK’s capital from all over the world, and generally an exciting place to be. Its vibrant
arts and entertainment scene caters to all tastes, from classical to popular, mainstream to fringe, and from retro
to avant-garde. Needless to say, the party animal in you will not be disappointed.
Despite its size, London’s green spaces make it quite a pleasant place to live. The soaring prices for property,
however, are one of the reasons why many families — even those with an above-average income — prefer to
live in the suburbs of Greater London when moving to the UK.

Edinburgh and Manchester — Culture and Industry

Edinburgh — “ed-n-bruh” — is the political and economic capital of Scotland, but with just under half a
million inhabitants, it’s only Scotland’s second largest city (after Glasgow) and accounts for about ten percent
of its population. With a largely service-centered economy, it is one of the strongest business hubs on the
British Isles. Many foreign employees moving to the UK for their careers come to Edinburgh. The city’s
vibrant arts and culture scene and its beautiful architectural heritage also make it an attractive destination for
tourists. According to the results of a popular poll published in 2009, Edinburgh was voted the UK´s “most
desirable” city to live in and the 2014 Good Growth for Cities index published by PWC puts Edinburgh at
third place out of 39 of the UK’s largest cities.

Manchester, in the northwest of England, lies in one of the UK’s largest urban areas. It has undergone a
significant regeneration process since the decline of the manufacturing industry in the post-WWII period and
is now an important location for finance, technology, and the arts. Manchester is renowned for its blending of
old Victorian architecture with bold, modern design, and has obtained worldwide fame thanks to its two
premier league football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City. It also boasts extensive shopping
facilities as well as an international airport, which makes it easily accessible for people moving to the UK from
abroad.