Lewisham tops UK Very Small Businesses table

Inspired by Boris' "nation of SMEs" speech at Tory party conference yesterday, The FT data blog has looked at the size of the UK micro business community - companies that employ between 0-4 people, which represent over three quarters of SMEs.

The FT analysis of ONS data shows Lewisham top of the VSB table

Using ONS statistics, they find that London has more of these businesses as a proportion of the area's total  number of businesses than any other region and that this borough has more very small businesses (VSBs) as a percentage of its total than any other part of the country. In Lewisham, VSBs represent 84.2% of the total.

It's hard to know what to make of these numbers, since they also confirm how low Lewisham's employment base is (with almost exactly half the total number of businesses located in Wandsworth). However, looking at this chart, it's probably fair to say it's better to be at the top of the scale than at the bottom, with stellar performers like Hull, Stoke and Dundee.

The other positive to draw from this is that developments like Martin's Yard (not far off completion now) are targeting the right type of tenant - if Brockley's going to attract more employers, it will be in the form of Very Small Businesses.

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