The State of Small Business in London

Jane Lambert

In Mapping Enterprise 14 Jan 2018 NIPC News I reported on the research into small and medium enterprises ("SME") across the UK that Nesta and Sage  have carried out and published in The State of Small Business: Putting UK entrepreneurs on the map their reports and on The State of Small Business website.

With 1,010,075 SME, London is the region with the largest number of small businesses. There are 37.6 startups for every 1,000 of the population which is more than 3 times the national average. However, London also has the biggest proportion of business failures (18.0 per 1,000 compared to 6.8 for the national average).  Detailed information for each local authority appears on the State of Small Business website.

Glancing at selected local authorities the City of London has 17,130 SME employing 156,145 persons of whom 41,521 are in financial services, 40,492 in professional, scientific and technical services, 18,989 in business administration and support and 16,925 in information and communication technologies. Financial services are by far the most productive sector with the greatest productivity. The City has 5 accelerators, 2 incubators and 126 flexible work spaces.  Westminster has 45,850 SME employing 325,857 persons in a wide range of business services.It  15 accelerators, 5 incubators and 257 flexible work spaces. By contrast, Lewisham has only 9,370 SME employing 30,803 and has no accelerators, incubators or flexible works spaces.

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