A review of small business employment data bases in the United Kingdom

This paper is designed to provide an overview of some of the key trends in small business development in the U.K., by surveying analyses of small business data sets. It focuses upon data sets which are concerned with the birth and death of primarily small enterprises, with particular emphasis upon the impact of smaller firms on employment creation. There is no single official data set which comprehensively covers all sizes of firms or enterprises. Nevertheless, after an exhaustive review of several sources the review supports the view that small firms have increased in number in the U.K. in recent years, with growth occurring particularly in the numbers of very small firms