In 2024, there were approximately **** 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 **** million. Enterprises that have between 10 and 49 employees are classed as small enterprises, and numbered around ******* in the UK, while there were ****** medium-sized enterprises.

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.

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.

In 2024, small and medium-sized enterprises in the United Kingdom had a combined turnover of over **** trillion British pounds, with businesses that had less than ten people working there contributing the most, at over ***** trillion pounds.

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

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 dataset provides comprehensive insights into business exit trends among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom for the year 2025. It encompasses data from a survey of 29,965 SME owners, highlighting key factors influencing business exits, preferred exit strategies, and the economic impact of these exits.

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

in 2021, 6.1% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with employees and 4.9% of SMEs without employees were 'majority led' by people from an ethnic minority

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, 70 percent of SMEs in the United Kingdom reported that they had made a profit in the previous 12 months, compared with six percent that broke even, and 14 percent that made a loss. The share of SMEs that made a profit was relatively stable until 2020, when it fell from 73 percent in the first quarter of that year to 47 percent in the second quarter, 2021.

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 2009 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)

The 2009 sample consisted of 1,250 follow up interviews with businesses interviewed for the 2008 survey. Telephone interviews were conducted by IFF Research Ltd during autumn 2009. These interviews focused on the cost and availability of overdrafts and term loans to businesses in the previous year due to policy makers concerns about the affect of the Credit Crisis on bank lending to SMEs. The data can be used for panel data analysis, in conjunction with UKSMEFs 2004 and 2008, or for standalone cross-sectional analysis. A set of population weights is included in the dataset so that this analysis can be weighted to the UK SME population. These weights were calculated using statistics provided by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills Enterprise Directorate - see Business population estimates, formerly 'SME Statistics'.

Further information may be found on the ESRC UK Survey of SME Finances 2009 Follow On Study award webpage.

Small Business Sentiment in the United Kingdom increased to -1 points in the first quarter of 2024 from -13 points in the fourth quarter of 2023. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Small Business Sentiment - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

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.

Approximately ** percent of SMEs made a profit in the UK in 2024, compared with ** percent that made a loss. Among medium-sized enterprises that employed 50 to 249 employees, ** percent of them made a profit, compared with ** percent of enterprises that employed 10 to 49 employees.

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

Ofcom undertakes research on the availability and experience of communications services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, defined as businesses with fewer than 250 employees. A survey of 1501 SMEs (0-249 employees) was undertaken using CATI (computer aided telephone interviewing). The survey data were weighted to be representative of the SME universe on size. Fieldwork took place between 9 May and 18 July 2016.

Data on enterprise births, deaths, active enterprises and survival rates in Barnet, as well as comparative data across Greater London boroughs.

This data is adapted from data from the Office for National Statistics and published by the GLA licensed under the Open Government Licence.

Comparative data and other information can also be found on the London Datastore.

Data includes:
1) the most recent annual figures for enterprise births and deaths. Births and deaths are identified by comparing active populations of enterprises for different years
2) time series of the number of births and deaths of entrprises together with a percentage of births and deaths to active enterprises in a given year
3) a time series of the number of active enterprises. Active enterprises are businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period.
4) survival rates of enterprises for up to 5 years after birth

Data on size of firms (micro-business, SME, large) for business and employees in London by industry can be found on the ONS website.

More Business Demographics data on the ONS website