UK Small and Medium-sized Firms data
Jinfo Blog

20th October 2008

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The Open University has always been a great source of accessible education for those who could not, or did not want to, follow an academic course based in a ‘physical’’ institution. Until now I haven’t paid much attention to its publications, so I’m particularly interested in announcing a report from its Small Enterprise Research Team (SERTeam) http://www.serteam.co.uk, especially as it was co-authored by a Free Pint subscriber, David Purdy, of Westminster Business School, University of Westminster. Entitled SME FACTS & ISSUES – A Compilation of Current Data and Issues on U.K. Small and Medium-Sized Firms, its second edition was published in October 2008. This makes it not strictly a New Product in VIP terms, but I’m sure it will be a new source to many readers. What entitles it to be called ‘new’ is that the publication is twice the size of the first edition and it includes a new chapter on climate change and peak oil. Another new feature is the inclusion of a presenters’ CD-ROM, including over 60 Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat slides. These are included so that users can include them in presentations and seminars. David Purdy’s co-author, Professor John Stanworth, has described the research involved in creating the publication as ‘akin to unravelling the DNA of small firms’ http://digbig.com/4xrye. The report uses a number of graphs to show trends and other information (41 Figures in 89 pages of text). Examples of the kinds of statistics available include: · Numbers of people in the UK, designated as self-employed · Comparisons of regulatory issues for the UK, US, Italy and Germany · Business lifespans and survival rates · Employee and self-employed population trends · UK Continental Shelf oil and gas production · UK carbon dioxide emissions, by source. The authors expect that the report will be of interest to professional advisers, support agencies and libraries.

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