Grimsby boasts fastest broadband speeds - but not for businesses

Grimsby has the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, while Na h-Eileanan an Iar in the Outer Hebrides has the slowest, according to a new report by Ofcom.

The Connected Nations 2015 report found Grimsby had connections averaging 46.8Mbps, while the Scottish island’s only reached around 5.6Mbps. UK-wide, the national average download speed was found to be 29.4Mbps.

However, the statistics apply to domestic connections and businesses are concerned they are not able to access the superfast connections they need.

Ofcom says that around 25 per cent of small firms, or around 290,000 across the UK, cannot access faster broadband. The problem, it said, was due to being based on business parks with no nearby residential addresses which meant many broadband companies were reluctant to invest in upgrading their connections.

Despite Grimsby topping the speed table, Liam O’Leary said that he had suffered problems accessing fast connections for his web development firm Laser Red.

Mr O’Leary, whose company is based in the E-Factor Enterprise Village, told the Grimsby Telegraph: “Broadband is a bit of a joke in Grimsby. Residentially, it's not bad at all but, as a business, you're screwed.

"It's our lifeblood. If we couldn't get it here, we might have looked at moving out of the area."

In the end, his business bought in its own connection instead of relying on the broadband at the business park.

The Ofcom report found that after Grimsby, the fastest download speeds were in Gillingham and Rainham (45.9Mb) followed by Bristol South (45.8Mb) and West Dunbartonshire. However, four out of the five slowest were Scottish islands, including Argyll and Bute (8.5Mb), Ross Skye and Lochaber (10.6Mb), and Orkney and Shetland (10.9Mb).

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