Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Small businesses outperform other companies
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- Figure 2: Comparison of turnover development of small businesses, and medium and large enterprises, 2015-19
- Figure 3: Turnover analysis of small businesses, by size of company, 2015-19
- Strong position in the non-profit sector
- Major turnover from wholesale/retail and construction
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- Figure 4: Breakdown of small business turnover, by sector, 2019
- Highest market penetration in agriculture
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- Figure 5: Sector penetration of small businesses, by sector, 2019
- London, the major regional market
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- Figure 6: Regional breakdown of small business turnover in the private sector, by region, 2019
- Highest penetration is in Northern Ireland
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- Figure 7: economic penetration of regions by small businesses in the private sector, 2019
- Companies and brands
- Hugely fragmented sector
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- Figure 8: Analysis of the small business sector, by number of companies, 2019
- Figure 9: Analysis of legal status of small businesses, 2019 (number)
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- The clouds are clearing the way for SMEs
- The facts
- The implications
- The under-used e-commerce opportunity
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- An important sector to the economy
- Very diverse sector involvement
- Geographically diverse too
Market Size
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- Small businesses bounce back
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- Figure 10: Turnover development of small businesses, 2015-19
- Small businesses outperforming the market in the medium term
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- Figure 11: Comparison of turnover development of small businesses, and medium and large enterprises, 2015-19
- The role of the small business
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- Figure 12: The role of the small business, 2019
Market Segmentation by Size of Company
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- Micro companies fuel turnover growth
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- Figure 13: Turnover analysis of small businesses, by size of company, 2015-19
- Private sector dominates activity
Market Segmentation by Industry
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- Overview
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- Figure 14: Breakdown of small business turnover, by sector, 2019
- Figure 15: Sector penetration of small businesses, by sector, 2019
- The role of the sole trader
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- Figure 16: Sector penetration of sole traders, by sector, 2019
- Other micro businesses
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- Figure 17: Sector penetration of other micro companies, by sector, 2019
- Other small businesses
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- Figure 18: Sector penetration of other small companies, by sector, 2019
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing
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- Figure 19: Breakdown of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Mining and quarrying, utilities and waste
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- Figure 20: Breakdown of the mining and quarrying, utilities and waste sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Manufacturing
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- Figure 21: Breakdown of the manufacturing sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Construction
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- Figure 22: Breakdown of the construction sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Wholesale and retail
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- Figure 23: Breakdown of the wholesale and retail sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Transportation and storage
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- Figure 24: Breakdown of the transportation and storage sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Accommodation and food services
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- Figure 25: Breakdown of the accommodation and food service sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Information and communication
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- Figure 26: Breakdown of the information and communication sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Financial and insurance activities
- Real estate
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- Figure 27: Breakdown of the real estate sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Professional, scientific and technical activities
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- Figure 28: Breakdown of the professional, scientific and technical activities sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Administrative and support services
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- Figure 29: Breakdown of the administrative and support services sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Education
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- Figure 30: Breakdown of the education sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Human health and social work activities
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- Figure 31: Breakdown of the human health and social work sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Arts, entertainment and recreation
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- Figure 32: Breakdown of the arts, entertainment and recreation sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Other service activities
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- Figure 33: Breakdown of the other service activities sector turnover, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
Market Segmentation by Region
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- Overview
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- Figure 34: Regional breakdown of small business turnover in the private sector, by region, 2019
- Figure 35: economic penetration of regions by small businesses in the private sector, 2019
- Sole traders
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- Figure 36: economic penetration of regions by sole traders in the private sector, 2019
- Other micro businesses
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- Figure 37: economic penetration of regions by other micro businesses in the private sector, 2019
- Other small businesses
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- Figure 38: economic penetration of regions by other small businesses in the private sector, 2019
- North East
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- Figure 39: Breakdown of the North East economy, by size of company, 2019
- North West
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- Figure 40: Breakdown of the North West economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Yorkshire and the Humber
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- Figure 41: Breakdown of the Yorkshire and the Humber economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- East Midlands
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- Figure 42: Breakdown of the East Midlands economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- West Midlands
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- Figure 43: Breakdown of the West Midlands economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- East of England
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- Figure 44: Breakdown of the East of England economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- London
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- Figure 45: Breakdown of the London economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- South East
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- Figure 46: Breakdown of the South East economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- South West
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- Figure 47: Breakdown of the South West economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Wales
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- Figure 48: Breakdown of the Wales economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Scotland
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- Figure 49: Breakdown of the Scotland economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
- Northern Ireland
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- Figure 50: Breakdown of the Northern Ireland economy, by size of company, 2019 (£ billion)
The Impact of the Economy
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- GDP
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- Figure 51: Quarterly GDP development, Q1 2015-Q2 2019
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- Figure 52: GDP quarterly development, by sector, 2004-19
- Figure 53: Forecast GDP development, 2019-23
Market Trends
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- Business churn
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- Figure 54: Business births and deaths, 2012-17
- Figure 55: Business start-ups in the UK, by sector, 2015-17 (000s)
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- Figure 56: Business deaths in the UK, by sector, 2017
- Figure 57: Business start-ups in the UK, by Region, 2013-17
- Employment costs
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage
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- Figure 58: The development of the NMW and NLW, 1999-2019 (£s per hour rate)
- Workplace pensions
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- Figure 59: Composition and progression of workplace pension contributions, 2012-19 (% of earnings)
- Apprenticeship Levy
- Other costs – business rates
- Remote working
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- Figure 60: Number of homeworkers in the UK, 2012-18
Market Drivers
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- The Brexit issues
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- Figure 61: SME expected impact of Brexit, 2019
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- Figure 62: Proportion of SMEs with international staff, by company size, 2019
- Figure 63: Proportion of companies exporting, by company size, 2019
- Access to finance
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- Figure 64: Proportion of small companies reporting a funding need, by size of company and quarter, 2018-19
- Figure 65: Reasons for small business funding need, year ending Q2 2019 (% of companies with funding need)
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- Figure 66: Likely funding requirement of small businesses with a need for funding, year ending Q2 2019 (% of companies with a funding need)
- Figure 67: Steps taken by small businesses with a need for funding, year ending Q2 2019 (% of companies with a funding need)
- Small business grants
- Digital developments
- Internet access and usage
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- Figure 68: Worldwide Internet usage, BY region 2010-19 (Millions and %)
- Broadband
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- Figure 69: Proportion of businesses with Internet access and type of connection, by number of employees, 2013-17 (%)
- Figure 70: Proportion of businesses by maximum contracted internet connection speed, by number of employees, 2013-17 (%)
- Websites
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- Figure 71: Proportion of companies operating a website, by size of company, 2017
- Cloud computing
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- Figure 72: Cloud services penetration, by company size, 2017
- Serviced offices
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- Figure 73: Market for serviced offices, 2014-18 actual and 2019-24 forecast
Industry Structure
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- Industry composition
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- Figure 74: Analysis of the small business sector, by number of companies, 2019
- Figure 75: Analysis of the small business sector, by employment, 2019 (000s employed)
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- Figure 76: Analysis of the small business sector, by turnover, 2019 (£ billion)
- Activities
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- Figure 77: Activity breakdown of small businesses, by sector, 2019
- Regional activity
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- Figure 78: Regional breakdown of small businesses, by region, 2019
- Legal status
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- Figure 79: Analysis of legal status of small businesses, 2019 (number)
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Methodology
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