1. Small and Medium Sized
Enterprises 2014
Some Facts and Figures
C W Mobbs
May 2015

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, 2014”, unless otherwise stated.

3. SMEs
• UK SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all private sector enterprises, 60.0%
of private sector employment and 46.8% of private sector turnover
• Enterprises comprising one employee director and self employed
owner-managers alone accounted for 75.6% of all enterprises, 17.3%
of employment and 6.6% of turnover
• Small enterprises alone accounted for 99.3% of all enterprises, 47.9%
of employment and 33.2% of turnover
• Turnover in SMEs is estimated at £1,647 bn, £69 bn (4.4%) higher than
2013

4. UK Enterprises (1)
• There are 5,332,875 enterprises in the UK economy
• Of these, 98.3% are private sector organisations, realising 93.4% of
whole economy turnover.
• A further 0.2% are Central or Local Government, employing 15.8%
of total employment and 1.5% are non-profits, employing 5/.9% of
total employment.

5. UK Enterprises (2)
Enterprises Employment Turnover
All enterprises 5,332,875 32.2 m 3,771.5 bn
Private sector 98.3% 78.3% 93.4%
Central and
Local
Government
0.2% 15.8% 5.0%
Non-profit
Organisations
1.5% 5.9% 2.0%

6. Private Sector Enterprises
Numbers
• 75.6% of enterprises have no
employees (ie, consist of sole
director or self-employed
owner-manager)
• 0.06% of organisations have
more than 500 employees
• Small enterprises account for
99.3% of enterprises and
medium enterprises for 0.6%
No of
Employees
Enterprises
5,243,135
0 75.6%
1-9 19.9%
10-49 3.7%
50-249 0.6%
250-499 0.1%
500+ 0.1%

7. Employees by Enterprise (1)
17.3% of all employment is in enterprises comprising a
sole director or self-employed owner-manager

8. Employees by Enterprise (2)
• Total employment stands at 25.2 m
• 17.3% 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 turnover
• Medium sized enterprises account for a further 12.2%
• Large companies account for 39.9%

9. Enterprises and Turnover (1)
Turnover of large enterprises accounts for 53.2% of
all private sector turnover

10. Enterprises and Turnover (2)
• Total private sector turnover amounts to £3,521.3 bn
• Despite having 75.6% 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
26.7% of total employment
• Medium sized enterprises account for a further 13.5%
• Large companies account for 53.2%

11. Enterprises and Legal Status
Of all private sector enterprises,
28.8% are companies, 8.7% are
partnerships, and 62.5% are sole
proprietorships (by number)
Of all private sector turnover,
92.3% is realised by
companies, 2.9% by
partnerships, and 4.8% by sole
proprietorships (by turnover)

12. Enterprises and Industry (1)
Enterprises Employment Turnover
Private sector enterprises 5,243,135 25.2 mn £3,521 bn
Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry;
Fishing
2.9% 1.8% 1.1%
Mining and Quarrying; Electricity,
Gas and Water Supply
0.6% 1.4% 6.6%
Manufacturing 5.0% 10.3% 15.7%
Construction 18.1% 8.0% 6.8%
Wholesale and Retail Trade;
Repairs
10.3% 19.6% 36.0%
Accommodation and Food
Services
3.4% 8.1% 2.4%

13. Enterprises and Industry (2)
Enterprises Employment Turnover
Transport and Storage 5.4% 5.5% 4.8%
Information and Communication 6.1% 5.0% 5.9%
Financial and Insurance Activities 1.6% 4.4% N/A
Real Estate Activities 1.9% 1.8% 1.3%
Professional, Scientific and
Technical Activities
14.9% 9.4% 7.4%
Administration and Support
Service Activities
8.0% 10.5% 5.5%

14. Enterprises and Industry (3)
Enterprises Employment Turnover
Education 4.9% 2.1% 0.6%
Human Health and Social Work 6.4% 6.8% 1.9%
Arts, Entertainment and
Recreation
4.5% 2.6% 3.0%
Other Service Activities 5.9% 2.7% 0.9%

15. Enterprises and Industry (4)
• In Financial and Insurance Activities, only 18.3% of employment
was in small enterprises, in Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry it was
87.4%
• 73.2% of Financial and Insurance Activities employees are in
businesses employing more than 250.
• Of the 33.3% of turnover in small enterprises, it also varies in
sector – 7.6% in Mining, Quarrying and Utilities to 83.7% in
Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry
• 92.9% of businesses in the Education sector are sole
owners/directors, compared to 29.1% in the Accommodation and
Food Service sector.

16. Enterprises and Country
Enterprises Employment Turnover
Private sector enterprises 5,243,135 25.2 mn £3,521 bn
England 87.5% 88.0% 90.4%
Wales 4.1% 3.3% 2.2%
Scotland 6.2% 6.7% 5.8%
Northern Ireland 2.3% 2.0% 1.6%

17. Enterprises and Region
Region Enterprises Employment Turnover
North East 2.9% 2.7% 1.8%
North West 9.7% 9.2% 7.9%
Yorkshire and Humberside 6.7% 8.0% 6.0%
East Midlands 6.3% 7.3% 5.7%
West Midlands 7.9% 8.3% 7.2%
East of England 10.5% 10.7% 9.4%
London 17.8% 19.7% 30.2%
South East 16.0% 14.5% 16.9%
South West 9.8% 7.5% 5.2%

18. Enterprises and Location (1)
• London had more than 930,000 private sector enterprises, more
than any other UK region.The South East had a further 837,000
companies. Compare this to Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland
who had a combined 655,000
• London and the South East together account for about a third of
all private sector enterprises in the UK
• Most of the regions in the UK experienced growth in the number
of enterprises between 2013 and 2014.The biggest increases were
in Wales (12.4%), North East (11.2%) and London (11.1%), and the
largest fall was in Scotland (-0.9%)

19. Enterprises and Location (2)
• All regions and countries saw rises in levels of employment save
for Scotland (-1.4%).The largest increase was in Wales (6.0%)
• London and the South East saw the largest growth in turnover
(12.4% each).The East of England saw the only decline (-1.9%)
• In the UK, there are approximately 1,007 businesses per 10,000
adults, ranging from 701 in the North East to 1,391 in London

20. Enterprises - Further Analysis
The following slides utilise information from the UK Innovation
Survey, 2013, Department for Business Innovation and Skills
The survey elicited responses from 14,487 enterprises, all of whom
had 10+ employees
Responses were from the UK as a whole

21. Enterprises and Innovation(1)
Enterprises engaging in innovation activity, by size and type of activity
10+
Employees
10-250
employees
250+
employees
Innovation Active 45% 45% 50%
Product Innovator 18% 18% 23%
Process Innovator 10% 10% 15%
Product and Process 7% 7% 10%
Product or Process 2% 21% 28%
Wider Innovation 37% 37% 39%

22. Enterprises and Innovation(2)
• Only 45% of organisations report that they are innovation active
• More businesses are product innovators than process ones (18%
and 10% respectively)
• Only 7% of all organisations are both process and product
innovators, but 10% of large organisations are
• 22% of organisations are either process or product innovators

23. Activities and Innovation(1)
Top 8 Reasons to Innovate All
Improve quality of goods and services 36%
Replacing outdates products or processes 31%
Increase market share 29%
Increase range of goods and services 28%
Increase value added 21%
Entering new markets 21%
Meet regulatory requirements 20%
Reducing costs per unit 18%

24. Activities and Innovation(4)
• When questioned as to reasons not to innovate (non-innovators
only), responses included that there was no need due to market
conditions (11%); followed by the absence of need due to previous
innovations (5%); and the existence of other factors constraining
innovation (3%).The other 68% said none of the above applied in
their case

25. 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, and providing innovation advice so our clients can
maximise their innovation 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 download our
Corporate Services Document.
© 2015 Innovation for Growth

26. 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