Economic Growth: Small Businesses
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of small businesses on economic growth.
Answered by Blair McDougall
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 5.7 million businesses, representing over 99.9% of the business population, and make a substantial contribution to UK economic activity. They generate around 51% of UK private sector turnover (£2.8 trillion) and employ around 16.9 million people, equivalent to 60% of private sector jobs.
DBT analysis suggests that accelerating SME growth by just 1 percentage point a year could deliver £320 billion to the UK economy by 2030.
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