About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

The State of Small Business: Putting UK entrepreneurs on the map

A data-led guide to the state of small business in the UK, examining local-authority level characteristics of SME growth, productivity and other factors.

A data-led guide to the state of small business in the UK, examining local-authority level characteristics of SME growth, productivity and other factors.

Key findings

  • SMEs have disproportionately driven job creation since 2010
  • High productivity doesn’t accompany high survival rates
  • Digital infrastructure without digital skills and tools will likely not boost productivity

This report, produced by the UK’s innovation foundation Nesta in collaboration with the UK technology company Sage, is a data-led guide to the state of SMEs in the UK. We break down the SME landscape, looking at factors such as productivity, rates of growth, and business churn to provide a view of how small business is faring in our towns, cities, and rural areas across the UK. Our analysis then seeks to identify some of the environmental factors that support or hinder the strength of the UK’s SMEs at a local level, from skills to infrastructure.

Erratum: In the first publication of this report, Figure 11 incorrectly showed ONS data for 2013-16 rather than 2007-16. This has been amended.

Authors

Jonathan Bone

Jonathan Bone

Jonathan Bone

Mission Manager, healthy life mission

Jonathan works within Nesta Cymru (Wales), focusing on working across public, private and non-profit sectors to deliver innovative solutions that tackle obesity and loneliness in Wales.

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Christopher Haley

Christopher Haley

Christopher Haley

Head of New Technology & Startup Research

Chris led Nesta's research interests into how startups and new technologies can drive economic growth, and what this means for businesses, intermediaries and for the government.

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