In 2024, there were approximately 5.49 million small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the United Kingdom. Micro-sized enterprises that employ up to nine people constitute the majority of SMEs in the UK, at over 5.23 million. Enterprises that have between 10 and 49 employees are classed as small enterprises, and numbered around 219,900 in the UK, while there were 37,750 medium-sized enterprises.

In 2024, there were approximately 981,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in London, making it the region with the highest number of SMEs in the United Kingdom. By contrast, in the same year, there were just 132,900 SMEs in Northern Ireland, the fewest of any UK region.

In 2024, SME's in the UK collectively employed 16.64 million people. In this year, micro-sized enterprises that had an employee headcount of nine or fewer employed around 8.64 million people in the United Kingdom, with small businesses employing around 4.32 million people, and medium-sized ones 3.68 million.

Numbers of enterprises and local units produced from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 8 March 2024.

In 2024, there were approximately 870,040 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector in the United Kingdom, the most of any sector in that year. The sector with the second-highest number of SMEs was the Professional, Scientific and Technical activities sector, at 754,520 SMEs.

The Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) is a large-scale telephone survey of small business owners and managers commissioned by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). This survey is the latest in a series of annual and biennial Small Business Surveys (SBS) dating back to 2003.

In 2015, the survey methodology changed to include a longitudinal tracking element. A large sample size was recruited in Year One (2015) to establish a panel of businesses to be re-surveyed in subsequent years. This will allow a detailed analysis of how combinations of factors affect business performance.

The LSBS is intended to:

• Improve the understanding of what drives and constrains business performance and growth by addressing evidence gaps relating to the lags between many business activities and associated performance outcomes;
• Provide improved data on current business performance and the factors that affect this. The larger survey size will provide more reliable findings for key sub-groups of the business population and in relation to activities such as seeking finance, which are only relevant to part of the sample.

The data available covers all respondents over the course of the six years so far. Further information and research reports are available on the GOV.UK "https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/small-business-survey-reports"> Small Business Survey Reports webpage.

Controlled (Secure) Access Version
A Controlled (Secure) Access version of the LSBS is available from the UK Data Archive, subject to stringent secure access conditions. Extra variables include postcode district, 2-, 3-, and 4-digit SIC codes; and Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers for linking to other business surveys. Small Business Survey data files for 2010 and 2012 containing 4-digit SIC codes and IDBR reference numbers are available under SN 6856. Users are strongly advised to check whether the safeguarded version is sufficient for their needs before considering an application for the Controlled (Secure) Access version.

Latest edition information
For the ninth edition (December 2024), the data and documentation have been updated to include Year 9 of the survey, completed during 2023-2024.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Business Structure Database (BSD) contains a small number of variables for almost all business organisations in the UK. The BSD is derived primarily from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a live register of data collected by HM Revenue and Customs via VAT and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. The IDBR data are complimented with data from ONS business surveys. If a business is liable for VAT (turnover exceeds the VAT threshold) and/or has at least one member of staff registered for the PAYE tax collection system, then the business will appear on the IDBR (and hence in the BSD). In 2004 it was estimated that the businesses listed on the IDBR accounted for almost 99 per cent of economic activity in the UK. Only very small businesses, such as the self-employed were not found on the IDBR.

The IDBR is frequently updated, and contains confidential information that cannot be accessed by non-civil servants without special permission. However, the ONS Virtual Micro-data Laboratory (VML) created and developed the BSD, which is a 'snapshot' in time of the IDBR, in order to provide a version of the IDBR for research use, taking full account of changes in ownership and restructuring of businesses. The 'snapshot' is taken around April, and the captured point-in-time data are supplied to the VML by the following September. The reporting period is generally the financial year. For example, the 2000 BSD file is produced in September 2000, using data captured from the IDBR in April 2000. The data will reflect the financial year of April 1999 to March 2000. However, the ONS may, during this time, update the IDBR with data on companies from its own business surveys, such as the Annual Business Survey (SN 7451).

The data are divided into 'enterprises' and 'local units'. An enterprise is the overall business organisation. A local unit is a 'plant', such as a factory, shop, branch, etc. In some cases, an enterprise will only have one local unit, and in other cases (such as a bank or supermarket), an enterprise will own many local units.

For each company, data are available on employment, turnover, foreign ownership, and industrial activity based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)92, SIC 2003 or SIC 2007. Year of 'birth' (company start-up date) and 'death' (termination date) are also included, as well as postcodes for both enterprises and their local units. Previously only pseudo-anonymised postcodes were available but now all postcodes are real.

The ONS is continually developing the BSD, and so researchers are strongly recommended to read all documentation pertaining to this dataset before using the data.

Linking to Other Business Studies
These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest Edition Information
For the sixteenth edition (March 2024), data files and a variable catalogue document for 2023 have been added.

Main Topics:

The following variables are available for enterprises and local units:

• employment (and employees)
• turnover
• Standard Industrial Classification (1992, 2003 and 2007 classifications are available)
• legal status (e.g. sole proprietor, partnership, public corporation, non-profit organisation etc)
• foreign ownership
• birth (company start date)
• death (termination date of trading)
• various geographical variables
  

'Employment' includes business owners, whereas 'employees' measures the number of staff, excluding owners.

Observations for enterprises also include a variable for ownership if the enterprise is part of a large group of companies.

Local units have an additional ‘death code’ variable, which serves as an indicator as to why the plant closed (e.g. as a result of a merger). It should also be noted that there is no turnover information for individual plants. This is because the ONS does not collect financial information at the plant level, which is notoriously difficult, especially for manufacturing plants where often no financial transactions are processed.

The birth and death variables are particularly useful for research, although it should be noted that for businesses that began trading before 1973, their birth date will be set to 1973. This is the year that VAT was introduced in the UK, and hence the first point in time for VAT registration for these companies. Companies that began trading since 1973 have their ‘real’ date of birth listed.

Monthly dataset showing change in sales and jobs recorded by Xero, an online accounting software platform. This dataset is updated on a quarterly basis. These are official statistics in development. Source: Xero.

The Small Business Survey (SBS) is a large scale telephone survey commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) as a follow up to the Annual Survey of Small Businesses 2007/8. The main aims of the first SBS survey in 2010 were to:

• monitor key enterprise indicators (e.g. employment, turnover, finance, business growth) and how these have changed in comparison to previous surveys. In particular the survey measures characteristics of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) such as the proportions which are women and minority-ethnic led, and the proportions applying for and obtaining external finance


• gauge SME intentions, needs, concerns and the obstacles to fulfilling their potential
• provide evidence for possible Government interventions to assist SMEs
• create a database which can be used for follow-up studies among the general SME population, or sub-groups within it

The main aims of the next survey in 2012 were to:

• monitor key enterprise indicators and how these have changed in comparison to previous surveys, the 2010 SBS in particular
• create a database that can be used for follow-up studies among the general SME population, and sub-groups within it.

From 2015, the survey methodology has changed to include a longitudinal tracking element. The Longitudinal Small Business Survey: Secure Access is available under SN 8261.

Linking to other business studies
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

The second edition (August 2014) includes data from 2012.

There almost 1.1 million small and medium-sized enterprises located in London in 2019, the most of any region of the United Kingdom, followed by South East England having 939 thousand, and East England at 598 thousand. Northern Ireland had the fewest SMEs at 124 thousand in 2019.

Value and volume of retail sales broken down by size of business

This dataset provides insights into the record number of companies founded by women in the UK in 2023, along with information on gender representation in business and self-employment.

This publication provides the only official government statistics that attempt to the estimate the total number of UK private sector businesses in the UK and their contribution to employment and turnover. Also provided is an estimate of the total number of businesses in the UK whole economy. The publication supercedes the publication 'Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Statistics for the UK and Regions'.

Source agency: Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: BPE for the UK and Regions

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

In January 2004, a consortium of public and private sector organisations commissioned Warwick Business School to carry out the United Kingdom Survey of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises' (SME) Finances, 2004. This was the first representative survey of SMEs to offer a close analysis of businesses with fewer than 250 employees, their main owners and their access to external finance. A second survey was conducted in 2008, where business owners were interviewed by telephone about the finances they have used or applied for in the last three years, their financial relationships, the characteristics of the business and personal details.

In 2007, another consortium of UK public sector bodies, small business representative organisations and finance providers agreed to sponsor a similar survey to the 2004 survey, conducted by the Centre for Business Research based at the University of Cambridge. This study is held at the UKDA under SN 6049, with the title United Kingdom Survey of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises' Finances, 2007. It aimed to compile another benchmark and to identify any changes or trends that had emerged since 2004, but made a number of changes to the 2004 questionnaire, so that it is not a direct member of the UKSMEF series, but stands alongside it as a separate cross-sectional survey. The UKSMEF 2008 survey was conducted by the same Principal Investigator as the 2004 survey, based at Warwick Business School, and the 2008 report provides direct comparison between the 2004 and 2008 surveys.

The aims of the 2008 survey were to:

• provide benchmarking data on the availability of credit to SMEs and the types of finance used
• collect information on the relationship between SMEs and their providers of finance
• develop a general purpose micro database for quantitative research on business finance (offering, for example, scope for comparisons with the US Survey of Small Business Finances)

Main Topics:

Topics covered in the survey included

• personal characteristics of the owner/manager
• firm demographics
• providers of finance
• use of current accounts, deposit accounts, trade credit, commercial loans and mortgages, assets and asset-based finance, credit cards and equity finance
• income and balance sheet information

Special questions were also included for 'start-up' businesses less than two years old.

During an early 2023 survey carried out among among people who run their own business or side hustle in the United Kingdom, nine percent stated they used TikTok as primary social media platforms used by small businesses for sales generation. Facebook ranked first, named by 30 percent of respondents.

Presents the number of enterprises (businesses) in the UK along with the turnover and employment in these enterprises.

Source agency: Business, Innovation and Skills

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: SME Statistics

This statistic shows the number of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the food and drink manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2022, by product type. In that year, there were 550 SMEs manufacturing dairy products, and 40 SMEs manufacturing oils and fats.

A list of businesses located in London showing a range of information including company name, address, postcode, local authority, and SIC code (industry).

The Free Company Data Product is a downloadable data snapshot containing basic company data of live companies on the register. The version available from Companies House has all UK business and is available to download in a series of Zip folders.

The London cut available to download here, was created using a postcode list. Therefore, if there is an error in the postcode, or some other problem caused the postcode listed not to match a London postcode, those business will not be included in the file. Furthermore, inaccuracies in postcodes may mean that no local authority is listed for a company.

Each entry represents a financial accounts submission of either a whole company or part of one. Some businesses have more than one entry in the directory because they need to submit more than one set of accounts for different parts of their business. Therefore, the number of entries in the directory will be greater than the number of businesses.

Note, Large file size - the Excel file is around 1 million rows. It loads in Excel 2010.

Companies House update the latest snapshot within 5 working days of the previous month end. The London file available here was published on 1 January 2015.

The Business Structure Database is managed by the Secure Data Service (SDS) and can only be accessed through secure conditions. The ‘domestic use’ input-output matrix, contains domestic trade flows describing intermediate demand between Standard-Industrial-Classification (SIC) coded sectors. This was obtained from the ONS.

GRIT (‘Geospatial Restructuring of Industrial Trade’) is an ESRC-funded project in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. An energy revolution must take place if the worst effects of climate change are to be avoided. Even without the impact this may have (eg through carbon pricing), fuel costs have a very uncertain future. GRIT has two aims:

create a fine-grained picture of the current spatial structure of the UK economy

consider how changing fuel prices could alter that structure over the long term. GRIT examines the web of connections between businesses in the UK to identify sectors and locations facing the greatest changes.

GRIT will work with a unique dataset: the Business Structure Database contains information for nearly every UK business, including location and sector classification. This will be linked to sectoral trade flow data. These two sources offer an opportunity to map the current spatial distribution of economic activity in the UK and to think about how that distribution may change in the future. GRIT combines this data-driven approach with a plan to engage with organisations directly affected. GRIT will work closely with a small number of organisations and engage others through the project website.