SMBs are vital to the British economy

New research released by the School of Marketing has identified just how important small and medium businesses are to the British economy. It highlights how many key industries in the UK are made up of a large amount of small and medium businesses.

The findings show that businesses who employ between one and 249 employees contribute more than £2 trillion in turnover and employ 44% of the British workforce.

The top regions for SMBs

SMBs are very important to the British economy, making up 25% of all businesses in the UK. Northern Ireland has the highest proportion of SMBs in the UK with roughly 29.4% of all companies being small and medium businesses. Scotland has the second-highest percentage with 27.7% of all businesses being SMBs. The East Midlands is home to the third-highest proportion of SMBs (27.3%) and North West England and wales are tied for the fourth-highest percentage with 26.7% being SMBs.

The top industries for SMBs

The analysis shows that the Hospitality Industry has the highest proportion of SMEs (68%) with Wholesale and Retail Trade coming in second – more than four in ten business in this industry are small or medium-sized. The Real Estate Industry has the third-highest proportion of SMEs, In fourth is the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Industry. The industry counting the fifth-highest percentage of SMEs is Manufacturing.

The study also assessed the most in-demand skills for entry-level positions across a range of industries and found that Communication and Microsoft Office proficiency are the most commonly occurring skills on job adverts – both appear in 61% of the jobs that were analysed. The third most in-demand skill is a High Attention to Detail, appearing in 44% of ads for entry-level positions. Finishing off the top five is a tie for fourth between Time-Management and Self-Motivated, both showing up on 39% of job adverts.

There are more than 1.4 million British companies which employ between one and 249 people, and combined they turn over a massive £2 trillion every year, which is 45% of total turnover from UK businesses. It’s essential that they are not only given the support to grow and continue making such an important contribution, but also that there is a skilled workforce able to help them deliver and adapt to the demands of an evolving economy.

– Ritchie Mehta, CEO of School of Marketing