75 BUSINESS far the highest of any city in the study. Manchester’s strength in craft is wellevidenced by its thriving independent maker scene, which includes some of the UK’s most active makers markets and a long tradition of textile and craft heritage in the region. The Craft & Paper Making category covers searches for scrapbooking classes and clubs, card making, paper craft workshops, craft fairs and makers markets, as well as hands-on skills such as knitting, crochet, and so on. Manchester leads this category with a per capita score of 232, nearly double that of second-placed Norwich (197), driven in large part by exceptionally high search volumes around makers markets, which generated the highest city-level scores of any keyword in the study. The Gardening & Allotments category captured searches for allotment clubs and societies, allotment waiting lists, community gardens, garden clubs, seed and plant swaps, flower arranging, and more. Edinburgh takes the top spot for gardening with a per capita score of 124. Edinburgh ranked highest in the country for community garden searches, perhaps reflecting the city’s strong tradition of community land use and the high demand for green space among its urban population. Norwich dominates the remaining three categories. In Writing & Journalling, which included creative writing classes and clubs, journalling workshops, book clubs, poetry clubs, Norwich leads with a score of 116 per 100,000, ahead of Oxford (96) and Glasgow (72). For Tech & Digital Making, which covered coding clubs and classes, hackspaces, makerspaces, and robotics clubs, Norwich again leads with 102 per 100,000, followed closely by Oxford (96) and Cambridge (74). And in General Creative Classes, encompassing evening classes, art, drawing and painting classes, life drawing, jewellery making, candle and soap making, and upcycling, Norwich tops the table with a score of 136, ahead of Oxford (121) and Brighton (74). Despite generating the highest raw search volumes of any city in the study by a significant margin, 15,930 searches in total, London finishes second-to-last in the per capita rankings with a score of just 178 per 100,000 residents. The capital ranks last in both Craft & Paper Making and Tech & Digital Making, and 18th out of 20 in Writing & Journalling and General Creative Classes. Only in Gardening does London fare better, placing 14th. This is not to say Londoners aren’t creative, but per head of population, residents of Norwich, Oxford, Manchester, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Southampton and Brighton are all significantly more likely to be actively seeking out creative communities than their London counterparts. ABOUT PAPER HIGH Paper High’s brand is built on thoughtful design, ethical craftsmanship, and meaningful human connection. Rooted in sustainability, transparency, and social responsibility, the brand works closely with a carefully chosen network of small Fair Trade family businesses, cooperatives, charities, and organisations across India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. By knowing every producer personally and openly sharing who they work with, Paper High brings a rare level of honesty, warmth, and purpose to gifting. Estee Janssens
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