Published: December 2015
In 2015 there were 23,615 businesses in Somerset. The County has more businesses per 1,000 population, (45) than the UK (39) and LEP area (42). The number of businesses fell in West Somerset by 3.8% between 2008 and 2015. Mendip had the largest increase of 5%.
Area |
Total businesses 2015 |
Business density (per 1000 population) |
Change 2008-2015 |
|
Number of businesses |
% of businesses |
|||
Somerset |
23,615 |
45 |
685 |
3.0% |
Mendip |
5,540 |
51 |
265 |
5.0% |
Sedgemoor |
4,735 |
41 |
180 |
4.0% |
South Somerset |
7,070 |
44 |
210 |
3.1% |
Taunton Deane |
4,520 |
41 |
100 |
2.3% |
West Somerset |
1,750 |
50 |
-70 |
-3.8% |
Heart of the South West LEP |
69,180 |
42 |
2,015 |
3.0% |
UK |
2,449,415 |
39 |
287,860 |
13.3% |
All figures are for the number of enterprises not local units
The number of businesses in Somerset increased by 5.6% between 2014 and 2015. At the UK level, the number of businesses grew 8.2% between 2014 and 2015.
Somerset has a higher proportion (20.7%) of businesses with a turnover of less than £50,000 than the UK (16.9%) and LEP (17.0%) areas.
The largest proportion of Somerset businesses fall in the £100-249,000 turnover bracket, a similar pattern to UK and LEP areas.
Somerset’s largest sectors in terms of number of businesses are agriculture, forestry and fishing (15.9%), professional, scientific and technical (13.5%) and construction (12.7%). 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%) than Somerset and the Heart of the South West LEP, but a higher proportion of professional, scientific and technical (17.8%).
% of total businesses by number of employees
Area |
Number of employees |
||||||
0-4 |
5-9 |
10-19 |
20-49 |
50-99 |
100-249 |
250+ |
|
Somerset |
76.5% |
13.1% |
5.8% |
3.2% |
0.9% |
0.4% |
0.2% |
Mendip |
75.8% |
13.1% |
6.8% |
2.8% |
0.8% |
0.5% |
0.2% |
Sedgemoor |
76.2% |
13.8% |
5.4% |
3.2% |
1.0% |
0.3% |
0.1% |
South Somerset |
77.5% |
12.2% |
5.4% |
3.2% |
1.0% |
0.5% |
0.2% |
Taunton Deane |
75.3% |
13.2% |
6.0% |
3.9% |
0.9% |
0.3% |
0.4% |
West Somerset |
77.7% |
14.0% |
4.9% |
2.6% |
0.6% |
0.3% |
0.0% |
Heart of the South West LEP |
75.2% |
13.6% |
6.2% |
3.3% |
0.9% |
0.5% |
0.3% |
UK |
76.3% |
12.4% |
6.1% |
3.2% |
1.0% |
0.6% |
0.4% |
Somerset’s economy is mostly made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 76.5% of Somerset’s businesses employ fewer than 5 people, compared to 76.3% in the UK and 75.2% in the LEP area. In West Somerset, 91.4% 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.
Source for all data: UK Business Activity, Size and Location 2015, ONS
In 2015 the population of Somerset was estimated to be 545,400, about 15,500 more than at the 2011 Census. This is a rise of nearly 3% - Population projections & estimates