London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

Recommendation 8: It is recommended that Government is lobbied to issue planning
guidance to encourage developers to consider the way in which waste
generated by their proposals is to be managed and transported, particularly by
water, at the outset of the planning and design process.
4.107. It is also understood that LondonWaste has considered using inland waterways to
transport their wastes in the future. They particularly mentioned the benefits of
reduced impacts on local road networks.
SME Activity
Context
4.108. Small and medium sized enterprises are extremely important to the UK, both in terms of
number of employees and turnover. SMEs, including the self-employed, accounted for
over 99% of the UK’s 3.8 million businesses at the start of 2002, as well as 56% of
employment (12.6 million people) and 52% of total UK turnover (£1,100 billion)
(source: SBS (Small Business Service) Statistics Team, SME Statistics for the UK). This
included 1.6 million (i.e. 69%) self employed 12 .
4.109. Data on the breakdown of London’s companies by size and sector was sourced from the
Small Business Service web-site for 2001 (which is the most recent data with a sectoral
split for London). This data has been compiled into two tables (percentages and
absolute numbers) which are presented in Appendix C. From these tables it can be
seen that in London, there were just under 673,000 SMEs in 2001, which represents
99.8% of all London businesses. In terms of employees (including the self-employed),
this was 43% of total workforce in London. And, in terms of turnover, this amounted to
49% (£1,924.79 million). Therefore, it can be seen that the vast majority of companies
in London are SMEs, and they account for just under half of the employment and
turnover.
4.110. It is useful to consider the different sizes of SMEs since there are considerable
differences between a one person company and that with 250 employees. We have split
SMEs into three size bands; i.e. micro companies with fewer than 10 employees
(including the self-employed), small companies (10-40 employees) and medium
companies (50-249 employees). From the tables in Appendix C, it can be seen that the
micro companies account for the greater proportion of all (i.e. including non-SME
companies) London’s companies (96%), with small and medium companies only a tiny
proportion (4% and 0.6% respectively). In terms of employment, the micro companies
are again dominant with 24% of all employment, with small and medium companies
comprising just under 10% each. In terms of turnover, the micro companies are again
the most dominant section of the SMEs with 19% of all companies, with the small and
medium companies both at just under 15%.
4.111. The tables in Appendix C also show the split of SMEs by sector in London. From these
it can be seen that the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector is, not surprisingly, by far
the smallest sector, with financial the highest, followed by services. Taking the
commercial sectors as a whole 13 , the SMEs comprise 46% by employment (of both SMEs
and non-SMEs), of which the micros account for 25% of all employment with an almost
even split of around 10% each for the small and medium. In the industrial sectors,
12 Self-employed is taken to include sole proprietorships, partnerships comprising only the self-employed ownermanager(s)
and companies comprising only an employee director.
13 i.e. wholesale, retail & repairs; hotels and restaurants; financial intermediation; real estate, renting and business
activities; health; education; other services.
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