The Indie Index

Name: The Indie Index
Creator: Independents Only
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

How independent is your town? We counted 16,106 shops, cafés, pubs, salons and places to stay and ranked 89 towns by the share that aren't chains.

See the Awards · How independent is your street? · How the Index works

The 50 most independent towns

Rank	Town	Independent	Businesses counted
1	Peterborough · CAM	98.2%	55
2	Watford · HRW	97.9%	48
3	Cambridge · CAM	97.6%	169
4	Hertford · HRT	97.5%	40
5	Ely · CAM	97.1%	35
6	Peterborough · PTE	96.2%	79
7	Stevenage · HRT	95.7%	47
8	Huntingdon · CAM	94.1%	34
9	St Albans · HRT	93.5%	46
10	Abbots Langley · ENG	92.6%	54
11	Watford · HRT	91.1%	45
12	Kings Langley · ENG	89.5%	57
13	Knebworth · ENG	88.6%	44
14	Welwyn · ENG	88%	50
15	Hertford	87.2%	39
16	Radlett · ENG	86.9%	84
17	Tring · ENG	86.5%	96
18	Chatteris · ENG	85.4%	48
19	Ely · ENG	84.5%	348
20	Royston · ENG	83.9%	174
21	Sawbridgeworth · ENG	83.6%	61
22	Letchworth · Hertfordshire	83.3%	30
23	Bushey · ENG	83%	88
24	Buntingford · ENG	82.8%	58
25	Wisbech · ENG	82.1%	212
26	Hertford · Hertfordshire	81.5%	65
27	Harpenden · Hertfordshire	81.1%	37
28	March · ENG	80.9%	157
29	Huntingdon · ENG	80.8%	390
30	Hertfordshire · ENG	80.7%	57
31	St Ives · ENG	80.3%	127
32	Ware · ENG	79.8%	203
33	Hertford · ENG	79.7%	222
34	Baldock · ENG	79.6%	98
35	St Neots · ENG	78.8%	222
36	Cambridgeshire · ENG	78.6%	42
37	Potters Bar · ENG	78.4%	162
38	Bishop's Stortford · ENG	78.3%	267
39	Cambridge · ENG	77.9%	1,460
40	Hoddesdon · ENG	77.4%	115
41	Rickmansworth · ENG	77.1%	201
42	Hitchin · ENG	76.9%	329
43	Peterborough · ENG	76.6%	1,202
44	Waltham Cross · ENG	76.2%	214
45	St Neots	76.2%	42
46	St Albans · ENG	74.7%	640
47	Hitchin · Hertfordshire	74.3%	70
48	St Albans	73.8%	145
49	Berkhamsted · ENG	73.4%	169
50	Harpenden · ENG	73.2%	157

By region

The Index is an estimate, updated 2026-10-22. Free to quote with credit to Independents Only. Spot something wrong? Every town page has a corrections link.