Economic Factsheet: Business Profile - August 2013

Published: August 2013

Economic Factsheet - Businesses - August 2013
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Number of businesses (2012)

Area	Total businesses 2012	Business density per 1000 population	Change 2008-2012
Area	Total businesses 2012	Business density per 1000 population	Number of businesses	% of businesses
Somerset	21,865	41	-1,065	-4.60%
Mendip	5,090	47	-185	-3.50%
Sedgemoor	4,425	39	-130	-2.90%
South Somerset	6,515	40	-345	-5.00%
Taunton Deane	4,180	38	-240	-5.40%
West Somerset	1,655	48	-165	-9.10%
Heart of the South West LEP	64,200	39	-2,965	-4.40%
UK	2,149,185	34	-12,370	-0.60%

Source: UK Business Activity, Size and Location 2012, ONS / 2011 Census

Somerset has more businesses per 1,000 population (41) than the UK and Heart of the South West LEP area (34 and 39 respectively). The number of businesses in Somerset decreased by 4.6% between 2008 and 2012. The greatest reduction was seen in West Somerset (-9.1%).

The economic downturn has affected the number of businesses in Somerset. The greatest annual change was between 2009 and 2010, with a 2.8% reduction. Business numbers have returned to growth in 2011-2012, although the UK is showing a higher rate of growth than Somerset and the LEP area. Business survival rates have dropped each year since 2006, with only 88.7% of Somerset businesses started in 2010 surviving for 1 year.

Business survival rates (2011)

Year	Somerset				HoSW LEP				UK
	No of start ups	Survival rates (%)			No of start ups	Survival rates (%)			No of start ups	Survival rates (%)
	No of start ups	1 yr	3 yrs	5 yrs	No of start ups	1 yr	3 yrs	5 yrs	No of start ups	1 yr	3 yrs	5 yrs
2006	2,215	96.8	68.6	49.4	6,335	97	69.5	48.7	255,530	96.5	66.2	45
2007	2,330	95.9	67.4		6,820	95.5	65.8		280,730	95.4	63
2008	2,230	93.7	62.6		6,250	94.3	62.7		267,445	92	58
2009	1,760	93.2			5,180	93			236,030	90.8
2010	1,635	88.7			4,835	88.7			235,145	86.7

Source: Business Demography 2011, ONS

Graphs of percentage of businesses in each broad industrial group

Source: UK Business Activity, Size and Location 2012, ONS

Somerset’s largest sectors in terms of number of businesses are agriculture, forestry and fishing (16%), construction (13.2%) and professional, scientific and technical (12.4%). The County’s industrial profile is broadly similar to that of the LEP area.

The UK as a whole has a lower concentration of agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses (6.5%) than Somerset and the Heart of the South West LEP, but a higher proportion of information and communication (7.4%) and finance and insurance businesses (2.1%).

Businesses by size (2012)

% of total businesses by number of employees

Area	Number of employees
Area	0 - 4	5 - 9	10 - 19	20 - 49	50 - 99	100 - 249	250+
Somerset	77.00%	12.90%	5.60%	3.00%	0.80%	0.50%	0.30%
Mendip	77.10%	12.90%	5.60%	3.00%	0.80%	0.50%	0.10%
Sedgemoor	76.80%	13.40%	5.60%	2.80%	0.80%	0.30%	0.10%
South Somerset	76.70%	13.00%	5.40%	3.10%	0.90%	0.60%	0.20%
Taunton Deane	76.30%	12.20%	6.20%	3.10%	1.00%	0.50%	0.70%
West Somerset	79.80%	12.70%	4.50%	2.40%	0.60%	0.00%	0.00%
Heart of the South West LEP	75.40%	13.80%	5.90%	3.20%	0.90%	0.50%	0.20%
UK	75.60%	13.00%	6.20%	3.20%	1.00%	0.60%	0.40%

Source: UK Business Activity, Size and Location 2012, ONS

Somerset’s economy is mostly made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 77% of Somerset’s businesses employ 4 people or fewer, compared to 75.6% in the UK and 75.4% in the LEP area. In West Somerset, 92.4% of businesses employ fewer than 10 people. Taunton Deane has the largest concentration of medium and larger businesses in the County, with 11.5% employing more than 10 people.

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Life expectancy is 80.5 (+-0.3yrs) years for men and 84.3 (+-0.3yrs) years for women in Somerset which is higher than national averages. - Life Expectancy