Small Businesses: Closures
(asked on 14th March 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of small and medium-sized businesses that have closed in each region of the UK since May 2010.
There is no data source that comprehensively measures business closures within the UK. The most relevant statistics available are the number of businesses de-registering for VAT and PAYE. Most of these businesses will have closed but some will still be trading, with turnover below the VAT threshold and without employees.
ONS statistics show 1.5 million businesses have registered for VAT or PAYE in the UK between 2010 and 2014, while 1.2 million have deregistered. De-registrations for the English regions and UK countries between 2010 and 2014 are provided below.
Number of VAT/PAYE de-registrations by English region and UK country between 2010 and 2014
English region or UK country | Number of businesses de-registering for VAT/PAYE (2010 to 2014)1 |
North East | 33,670 |
North West | 127,305 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 87,225 |
East Midlands | 78,690 |
West Midlands | 96,910 |
East of England | 118,110 |
London | 243,750 |
South East | 186,700 |
South West | 97,515 |
Wales | 43,295 |
Scotland | 76,130 |
Northern Ireland | 24,680 |
United Kingdom | 1,213,980 |
1. Source: ONS, Business Demography