Statistics for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) pertaining to UK and regions were released by Department for Business Innovation and Skills. The various facts are as below:
SME’s and their growth in UK and English Regions, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland:
It is estimated that in UK, at the start of 2008, the total number of private sector enterprises present were 4.8 million. On basis of the above statement, it is understood that there was an increase of 2.2% (104,000) in a period of 1 year, that is since start of 2007.
Of the estimated 4.8 million enterprises in UK, 4.1 million (86.4%), with an increase of 73,000 (rise of 1.8%) since the start of 2007, are based in England. But currently in 2008, with 800,000 enterprises, London has higher number of enterprises than any other country in UK. London and South east regions account for 33% of all the UK enterprises. Over 700,000 enterprises are there in each of these both regions.
In the total 4.8 million private sector enterprises, 99.9 % were small and medium-sized enterprises. Among them 99.3% were small(0 to 49 employees), 27,000(0.6%) were medium-sized (50 to 249 employees) and 6,000(0.1%) were large (250 or more employees).
Contribution of SMEs to UK economy in terms of turnover:
All the 4.8 million private sector enterprises generated an annual turnover of £3,000 billion. The 99.9% of the SMEs accounted for 50.1% of the total turnover. In which 13.6% was contributed by medium sized industries alone and small enterprises accounted for 47.9%.
The turnover share in small enterprises varies among various industries. There are variations by industry, ranging from 5.3 per cent in Mining, Quarrying and Utilities to 86.0 per cent in Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry.
Share of SMEs in UK economy in terms of employment:
The estimated 4.8 million private sector employees employed an estimated 23.1 million people. And the 99.9% of the private sector SMEs generated an employment of 59.4% . Among these medium sized enterprises alone accounted for 11.5% and the small enterprises accounted for 47.9%.
The share of employment among small enterprises is 94.4% was for agriculture, fishing and forestry and 16.3% was for financial intermediation.