HC Deb 17 July 1997 vol 298 cc256-7W
Mrs. May

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is her Department's definition of small businesses. [9021]

Mrs. Roche

There is no single definition of a small business, mainly because of the wide diversity of businesses.

The question of an appropriate definition is meaningful only in the context of a specific measure for which it is considered necessary to separate one category of enterprises from another for reason of size.

In practice, a variety of definitions are adopted depending on the objective of the schemes or initiative. Such definitions are normally based upon the number of employees, but may also refer to turnover or other factors such as growth potential.

For statistical purposes the DTI usually uses the following definitions:

  • Micro firms: 0–9 employees
  • Small firms: 0–49 employees (includes micro businesses)
  • Medium firms: 50–249 employees
  • Large firms: 250+ employees.