This document summarizes statistics about small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK in 2012. Key points include: - SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all private sector enterprises, 59.1% of private sector employment, and 48.8% of private sector turnover. - Enterprises consisting of sole proprietors represented 74.2% of all enterprises, 16.3% of employment, and 6.6% of turnover. - Small enterprises alone made up 99.2% of all enterprises, employed 47% of the private sector workforce, and contributed 34.4% of total private sector turnover.

1. SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED
ENTERPRISES 2012
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
C W Mobbs
November 2012

2. Introduction
• For the purposes of this analysis, small and medium sized
enterprises are defined as those with less than 250
employees (large enterprises have 250+)
• Small enterprises have less than 50 employees; medium
ones between 50 and 249
• An enterprise is defined as a profit, non-profit or
government organisation
Data Source: Department for Business Innovation and Skills ‘Business Population Estimate for
the UK and Regions, 2012’, unless otherwise stated.

3. SMEs
• UK SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all private sector enterprises,
59.1% of private sector employment and 48.8% of private sector
turnover
• Enterprises comprising one employee director and self
employed owner-managers alone accounted for 74.2% of all
enterprises, 16.3% of employment and 6.6% of turnover
• Small enterprises alone accounted for 99.2% of all enterprises,
47.0% of employment and 34.4% of turnover
• Turnover in SMEs is estimated at £1,529 bn, £40 bn (2.7%)
higher than 2011

4. UK Enterprises (1)
• There are 4,883,330 enterprises in the UK economy
• Of these, 98.2% are private sector organisations, realising
93.0% of whole economy turnover
• A further 0.2% are Central or Local Government, employing
17.4% of total employment and 1.7% are non-profits,
employing 5.4% of total employment

5. UK Enterprises (2)
Enterprises Employment Turnover
All enterprises 4,883,330 31.0 m £3,368 bn
Private sector 98.2% 77.2% 93.0%
Central and
Local
Government
0.2% 17.4% 5.0%
Non-profit
Organisations
1.7% 5.4% 2.0%

6. Private Sector Enterprises
Numbers
• 74.2% of enterprises have no
employees (ie, consist of
sole director or self-employed
owner-manager)
• 0.07% of organisations have
more than 500 employees
• Small enterprises account for
99.2% of enterprises and
medium enterprises for 0.6%
No of
Employees
Enterprises
4,794,105
0 74.2%
1-9 21.3%
10-49 3.7%
50-249 0.6%
250-499 0.1%
500+ 0.1%

7. Employees by Enterprise
(1)
16.3% of all employment is in enterprises
comprising a sole director or self-employed owner-manager

8. Employees by Enterprise (2)
• Total employment stands at 23.9 m
• 16.3% of total private sector employment is in
enterprises comprising sole directors or self-employed
owner-managers
• Small business with between 1 and 49 employees
account for 30.6% of total employment
• Medium sized enterprises account for a further 12.2%
• Large companies account for 40.9%

9. Enterprises and Turnover
(1)
Turnover of large enterprises accounts for
51.2% of all private sector turnover

10. Enterprises and Turnover
(2)
• Total private sector turnover amounts to £3,131.6 bn
• Despite having 74.2% of all private sector enterprises,
organisations with a sole director or self-employed owner-manager
only produced 6.6% of turnover
• Small business with between 1 and 49 employees account
for 27.8% of total turnover
• Medium sized enterprises account for a further 14.4%
• Large companies account for 51.2%

11. About Innovation for
Growth
Founded in 2010, Innovation for Growth is a business consultancy firm
that specialises in the provision of advice to small and medium sized
enterprises. We work with companies from all sectors undertaking:
innovation audits, innovation advice and the provision of strategy advice
so our clients can maximise their business capabilities and achieve their
growth aspirations.
We also undertake desktop, business research and analysis, enabling our
clients to concentrate on running their business.
For more on our services, please see our website:
www.innovationforgrowth.co.uk
© 2011 Innovation for Growth