Closed petition Tell Us What You're Doing For Micro Enterprises Not For 'SMEs'

Closed on 3 October 2012

This petition asks for clearer communication by government on the contribution and benefit of its policies, programmes and support/employment/skills bodies to micro enterprises (0-9 employees). Government are requested to quantify the number of ‘micro enterprises’ expected to benefit from any government intervention to assist small businesses.

It will help the clarity of public communications if government do not use the term ‘SMEs’ as an interchangeable term for ‘small businesses’. It is not. ‘SMEs’ covers 99.9% of all UK enterprises (all but 6,000 Large Enterprises) and includes substantial, corporately managed businesses.

What the taxpayer thinks of as a small business government classifies as a micro enterprise (start-ups, owner-managed, sole traders and the self-employed). 95% of all UK enterprises are micro enterprises, there are 4.6 million of them, one in seven of the adult workforce own and run them, and micro enterprises provide a third of all UK employment.