London leads with 18 per cent share of the country’s micro-businesses
London has been found to be a so-called micro-business hotspot, accounting for almost a fifth of the UK’s businesses with fewer than nine employees.
There were found to be 2.17m micro-businesses across the UK, research from Direct Line has revealed, with the South East of England and London making up a whopping 700,000 of them.
Across London there are 47 micro-businesses per 1,000 people. The South East and East of England clocked up 38 and 36 for every 1,000 people respectively.
“It is unsurprising to see that London and the South East account for more than a third of the nation’s micro-businesses, as families in these areas are often seeking to gain extra sources of income by turning their hobbies into professions,” said Direct Line’s head of business Nick Breton.
The average turnover of the UK’s micro-businesses currently stands at £286,879, compared to the average turnover for small and medium sized firms of £703,419. While 18 per cent micro-businesses across the UK operate on sales under £50,000, there are 23,500 micro-businesses in the UK with sales of more than £1m.