The UK SME Story Is Stronger Than the Headlines Suggest
SMEs remain the backbone of UK business
At the start of 2025, there were an estimated 5.7 million private-sector businesses in the UK, with SMEs accounting for virtually all of them.
Together, SMEs employed almost 17 million people and generated approximately £2.83 trillion in turnover.
Those aren’t the numbers of a marginal part of the economy. They demonstrate just how important owner-managed and privately owned businesses remain to the UK.