§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will estimate the number of businesses in each region of the UK which trade with the EU; what percentage of(a) small businesses, (b) medium sized businesses and (c) large companies this represents in each region; and what the value of such trade in each region was for each business sector in the last year for which figures are available. [184524]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe latest available information on UK trade in goods, by UK regions, was published by HM Customs and Excise on 17 June 2004. The Press Release (NAT 27/04) and accompanying tables of statistics are available from the Customs' website: www.uktradeinfo.com which may be accessed from the Libraries of the House.
Customs do not collect information on numbers of employees so it is not possible to distinguish between small, medium sized and large businesses.