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Happy New Year from the Product Development Team at ARAG. Regular blog readers will know that we enjoy following legal and other developments and we share information and comment with you if it is helpful in assisting understanding of our policy features or has an impact on products.

The following isn’t to do with legal developments or ARAG products, but I found these UK private sector business statistics interesting. The numbers illustrate just how much potential there is to grab commercial business. The figures have been published by the House of Commons Library.

  • In 2018, there were 5.7 million businesses in the UK, 28,000 fewer than in 2017. This is the first annual fall in the number of business since the series began.
  • Over 99% of businesses are Small or Medium Sized businesses – employing 0-249 people
  • 5 million (96%) businesses were micro-businesses – employing 0-9 people. Micro-businesses accounted for 33% of employment and 22% of turnover.

Note - ARAG’s target market is small and medium businesses. Many of our policyholders are micro businesses which have Essential Business Legal cover included within their packaged commercial insurance. The 96% of businesses that employ less than 10 employees could benefit greatly from legal advice helplines and documents from our Business Legal services website.

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  • The service industries accounted for 74% of businesses, 79% of employment and 72% of turnover.

  • The manufacturing sector accounted for 5% of businesses, 10% of employment and 14% of turnover.
  • There were 382,000 business births in 2017, 32,000 fewer than in 2016.

Note - We are always willing to consider tailoring policy cover or marketing messages for schemes that target professions or trades.

Further information is provided in the House of Commons Library briefing paper. Here’s a link to download your own copy.

Lesley Attu Blog

Disclaimer - all information in this article was correct at time of publishing.