There are nearly 5.5 million businesses in the UK. It may come as a surprise, however, to learn that most of these (about 4.1 million) are not employers. They might be, for example, the sole traders we call to fix our leaky roof or the freelance workers providing support to bigger firms.
Of the remaining 1.4 million UK businesses that employ staff, most are micro and small businesses (meaning they have up to 49 employees) and 38,000 are medium-sized businesses (with 50-250 employees). Only 8,000 firms in the UK are large businesses with 250 or more employees.
