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Statistics from the Enterprise Directorate Analytical Unit

Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Statistics (National Statistics Publication)

These show the number of businesses, employment and turnover in all the businesses in the UK, not just those on official registers. Data are split by legal status; country; region; 1, 2 and 3 digit Standard Industrial Classification; and number of employees (0, 1-4, 5-9, 10-19, 20-49, 50-99, 100-199, 200-249, 250-499, 500+).

Business Start ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-Registrations (National Statistics Publication)

Data on the number of VAT registrations, de-registrations and stock of VAT-registered businesses in the UK is available from BERR Statistics website. Data are split by Local Authority, Parliamentary Constituency and by industry.

Business Survival Rates

Business survival rates show the percentage of businesses that are still registered for VAT a certain number of years after they first registered. Data are split by industry and all UK local authorities.

VAT Registrations in Deprived Areas

These show the VAT registration rates for the 20 percent most deprived areas in England, region by region. Comparisons are available for the least deprived areas and other quintiles.

Other useful sites

SME definitions

There is no single definition of a small firm. Our statistics define SMEs as businesses with less than 250 employees. However other commonly used definitions also take turnover and balance sheet information into account.

The Companies Act 1985 definitions for an SME in relation to compulsory audit thresholds are described on the following page.

The European Commission web site has a full explanation of the European Definition of an SME.

Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR)

All of the main series of statistics produced by the Small Business Service are derived from data held on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR has records for 2.1 million of the estimated 4.7 million UK enterprises (at the start of 2007). Ad-hoc analysis of the data for statistical purposes can be commissioned from the ONS.