55 Top SME Facts & Figures

The number of small businesses has grown by 55% over the past 20 years. The Labour party have described small business as the ‘beating heart of our economy’ and promised to ‘hardwire the voice of small business into everything we do’. Greater stability and certainty in business taxation take centre stage.

Lifting business rate relief could take 200,000 SME’s out of the payment. Legislating on late payers could unlock £20bn of SME cashflow, addressing calls for 100% expensing in areas of future skills shortages and delivering new ‘Technical Excellence Colleges’ could boost the skills base.

Export growth has languished at the bottom of G7 nations, and with the EU Trade & Cooperation Agreement up for renewal (2025) Labour have pledged to work alongside the FSB to create a Small Business Export Taskforce.

Our Business Development consultant, Simon Cossey, has been surfing the small business worldwide web (whilst on holiday in Portugal) to collate 55 top facts and figures reflecting areas from marketing to ESG, technology, the business of being a small business, people to leadership and customer experience!

1	99%	UK businesses are SME’s
2	96%	SME’s employ less than 10 employees
3	95%	Are incorporated as Private Limited Companies
4	92%	Small business owners have ‘No Regrets’
5	91%	Small Business owners work overtime
6	90%	SME’s are profitable
7	89%	SME’s considering environmental considerations
8	84%	SME exports are EU bound
9	77%	Social stance contributes to companies reputation
10	75%	Believe that technology will have a impact in the next 5 years
11	72%	SME owners are optimistic about the future
12	71%	Use social media to promote services
13	66%	Labour say businesses unable to acquire skills to expand
14	65%	Case studies are biggest value drivers for business
15	62%	Digital marketing is a top priority
16	61%	Private sector employment
17	59%	Consumers prefer to buy from SME’s
18	59%	Family businesses are 1st generation
19	57%	Family businesses happy with current financial reporting
20	56%	SME owners struggle to find suitable staff
21	56%	SME have less than hour a day for marketing
22	55%	Business state AI could provide benefits
23	53%	Consumers believe SME’s more trustworthy
24	52%	Global SME’s put off marketing in favour other things
25	52%	SME owners have no plans to retire
26	51%	UK Plc turnover
27	49%	Small SME’s consider social implications
28	46%	SME’s started to pursue a passion
29	46%	SME owners lack skills to utilise AI
30	45%	Invested in cybersecurity measures
31	44%	Small business owners are 39 – 54 years old
32	41%	See Taxation / VAT / PAYE as obstacle to growth
33	40%	Baby boomers own a business
34	39%	Cite red tape as barrier to growth
35	38%	Survive 5 years or more
36	37%	SME experienced presenteeism
37	36%	Plan to pass to NextGen but not discussed
38	35%	Consumers willing to pay more to buy from SME’s
39	34%	SME’s based in London and South East
40	33%	Use technology for customer insights
41	32%	Reported cyber security breaches in last 12 months
42	30%	Achieve faster growth with a plan
43	30%	Pandemic entrepreneurs have no physical store
44	29%	Motivated to start to be own boss
45	29%	See late payments as obstacle to growth
46	25%	SME remain profitable over 15 years
47	24%	Family businesses don’t use accounting software
48	23%	SME’s impacted by Brexit
49	23%	SME R&D claims from manufacturing
50	20%	Small businesses use AI tools
51	19%	SME’s are female led
52	16%	All small businesses are construction related
53	12%	Small business owners are millennials
54	12%	SME unable to source loans from mainstream funders
55	1%	Less than 1% UK businesses reach 250 employees