HC Deb 27 May 1993 vol 225 cc711-2W
Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list(a) the average pre-tax turnover, (b) the number of start-ups and (c) the number of people employed for small businesses in Wales in each year since 1979.

Sir Wyn Roberts

The tables give an indication of the distribution of turnover between units, grouped by size, in Wales. Information prior to 1989 is not readily available and the size bands published were changed in 1991.

New VAT registrations give an indication of the number of business start-ups for each year. Firms with a turnover of less than £1 million each year account for over 96 per cent. of the total.

Year Number of new VAT registrations
1980 7,070
1981 7,122
1982 7,704
1983 8,044
1984 7,609
1985 7,264
1986 7,811
1987 8,682
1988 10,873
1989 10,916
1990 10,165
1991 8,408

SourceNOMIS.

Information on the numbers of employees employed in units of different size is available for 1984, 1987, 1989 and 1991 from the size-band analyses of the Censuses of Employment and given in the following table.

Employees in employment in Wales, by size of unit.1
Thousands
Size of unit (employees)
September 1–49 50–199 200 and over
1984 356.1 189.4 319.5
1987 364.6 204.2 334.1
1989 413.4 209.8 343.9
1991 439.3 217.4 287.2

SourceSize-band analyses of Censuses of Employment, Employment Department (via NOMIS).

1 Excluding agriculture.

Number of units, by turnover size
Size of unit: turnover
Year £22,000–£100,0001 £101,000–£250,000 £251,000–£1,000,000 £1,001,000 and over
1989 44,055 13,635 7,208 2,735
1990 44,762 14,820 8,127 3,070

SourcePA 1003 Size analyses of United Kingdom businesses, Business Monitor, Central Statistical Office.

1£23,000-£100,000 in 1990.

Number of units, by turnover size
Size of unit: turnover
Year £1,000–£25,000 £26,000–£99,0001 £100,000–£249,000 £250,000–£999,000 £1,000,000 and over
1991 n.a. 41,709 16,986 9,107 3,467
1992 16,008 36,130 17,223 9,430 3,486

SourcePA 1003 Size analyses of United Kingdom businesses, Business Monitor, Central Statistical Office.

1£24,000-£99,000 in 1991.