The vital importance of small and medium-sized enterprises to the UK's economy has been underlined by official data showing that 99 per cent of businesses in the country last year were SMEs.
Researchers at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that out of a record total of 3.8 million UK enterprises, just 7000 qualified as large firms, by virtue of having 250 or more employees.
The total number of enterprises increased by 51,000 between 2000 and 2002.
Although the average SME had a much smaller workforce and sales than a big firm, smaller fry accounted for more than half the total turnover and employment generated by UK plc.
The ONS found at the start of 2002 that small firms - those with fewer than nine workers - were responsible for 43.7 per cent of business employment, up 0.1 per cent on 2000 when the data was last compiled.
