In the process of being updated - This page includes explorable data and summaries of the numbers of enterprises and local business units over time, alongside business survival statistics.

Data included: Surrey, LAs, South East, England.

Latest data included:

  • Business & enterprise counts - 2010 to 2021.
  • Business demography - 2015 to 2020.


Please note that the behind-the-scenes running of Surrey-i is undergoing large changes and so the data summaries will resume when it is possible to do so.


Summary (This is not based on the latest data. An update is being processed)

Enterprises

The number of enterprises represent the total overall businesses in an area in March of that year. An enterprise can consist of multiple individual workplaces and individual sites. In 2021, there were 65,150 enterprises in Surrey. In 2021 there were 140 fewer enterprises in Surrey overall than in 2020. Reigate and Banstead had a reduction of 130 enterprises from 2020 to 2021, Elmbridge of 80, and Guildford of 65.

Surrey has a higher proportion of enterprises in professional, scientific and technical industries; information and communication industries; and business and administration support services than in the South East and England overall. The professional, scientific & technical industry made up the highest proportion of enterprises in Surrey at 22 per cent (11,450), while the construction industry contributed 13 per cent (6,710), and the information and communication industry contributed 11 per cent (5,910).  


The number of enterprises in Surrey by industry in 2021


Local Units

A local unit, which can otherwise be thought of as a workplace, is an individual site associated with an enterprise. In 2021, there were 73,135 local units of business in Surrey which is a reduction of 255 local units from 2020.

Local units in the professional, scientific and technical industry made up the highest proportion of local units in 2021 and consisted of 15,340. However, the total number of local units in the professional, scientific and technical industry declined in Surrey from 2020 to 2021 by 465 (-3.6%), and 705 (-4.4%) from 2019 to 2021. Other industries which experienced declines in local units in Surrey between 2020 and 2021 are information and communication (-595, -7.0%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (-65, -7.2%), and arts, entertainment, recreation & other services (-100, -2.1%). Some industries experienced an increase in the number of total local units in Surrey from 2020 to 2021 such as transport and storage (+170, +8.7%), retail (+420, +7.8%), and property (+110, +4.2%). The graph below presents the number of local units by industry in 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 totals.


The number of local units in Surrey by industry in 2019 and 2021

Around 88 per cent (64,200) of the 2021 local units in Surrey were ‘micro’ units with an employment size of 0 to 9. ‘Small’ local units sized 10 to 49 contributed 10 per cent (7,250), ‘medium' local units sized 50 to 249 contributed 2 per cent (1,480), and ‘large’ local units contributed less than one per cent (210). While the overall change in the total local units in Surrey was a 0.3 per cent decline between 2020 and 2021, the number of large units declined by over 4 per cent during this time and by just under 7 per cent since 2019.  


Data sources

Business counts: UK business: activity, size and location - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) The data contained in these tables are produced from a snapshot of the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken in March each year. The main administrative sources for the IDBR are VAT trader and PAYE employer information passed to the ONS by HM Revenue & Customs under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for VAT traders and the Finance Act 1969 for PAYE employers; details of incorporated businesses are also passed to ONS by Companies House.

Business demography (survival etc.): Business demography, UK Statistical bulletins - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

UK Open Government Licence
Last Update
9 months ago  
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Type of information
Data summary
6 files
2010-2021 Enterprises by industry (Business Counts - Surrey i).xlsx (119.83 kB)Mar 2010 — Mar 2021

This dataset uses the 2007 revision to the Standard Industrial Classification (UK SIC 2007)

2010-2021 Local units by industry (Business Counts - Surrey i).xlsx (209.49 kB)Mar 2010 — Mar 2021

This dataset uses the 2007 revision to the Standard Industrial Classification (UK SIC 2007)

2020-2021 Enterprises by turnover (Business Counts - Surrey i).xlsx (92.13 kB)Mar 2010 — Mar 2021

Turnover provided to the ONS for the majority of traders is based on VAT returns for a 12 month period. For 2018 this relates to a 12 month period covering the financial year 2016/2017. For other records, in particular members of VAT group registrations, turnover may relate to an earlier period or to survey data. For traders who have registered more recently, turnover represents the estimate made by traders at the time of registration. The turnover figures on the register generally exclude VAT but include other taxes, such as the revenue duties on alcoholic drinks and tobacco. They represent total UK turnover, including exempt and zero-rated supplies.