From micro-businesses through to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), companies employing fewer than 250 people are the backbone of the UK economy, making up over 99 per cent of all UK businesses and providing 60 per cent of UK private sector employment. Their confidence, future growth, and ability to harness the power of the internet and technology are all significant indicators of Britain’s quality of life and ability to compete on the global economic stage, and we want to champion their continued success.
This is why, alongside Enterprise Nation, we commissioned the SME Growth Tracker by Capital Economics, an independent, in-depth piece of research based on extensive YouGov polling of over 1,000 SMEs in Britain. The annual report –and the quarterly tracker updates - seek to examine SME sentiment on key issues related to the overall economy, the export environment, productivity and the UK’s digital economy.
At Amazon, we strive to support businesses of all sizes –and particularly small businesses. Small businesses play a big role in helping us serve our millions of customers by increasing selection, for example through selling on Amazon, Amazon Launchpad, Handmade at Amazon and AmazonFresh’s Local Shops and Markets. We also empower businesses to reach more customers and run their businesses more effectively through services such as Alexa voice recognition, Amazon Pay, the Amazon App Store, and Amazon Web Services. We are proud to empower hundreds of thousands of businesses –rural and urban –in every corner of the UK. The ability to sell on Amazon alone creates 85,000 SME jobs here in Britain, and 60 per cent of our UK sellers export, achieving £2.3bn exports in 2017.
We hope that it provides helpful insight on how this crucial segment of our economy is performing and helps raise awareness of SMEs who are leading the way in strengthening the UK economy for the future.
