OECD-defined High Growth Enterprises in the UK
Updated 1 February 2024
漏 Crown copyright 2024
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High Growth Enterprises (HGEs) are defined by the OECD as:
鈥� enterprises with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three year period 鈥�. measured by the number of employees or by turnover. A meaningful size threshold should be set 鈥� A provisional size threshold has been suggested as 10 employees at the beginning of the growth period.
This data release, which highlights the gender and regional disparities in entrepreneurship across the UK, was presented by the Women-Led High Growth Taskforce in Downing Street, and will inform their work.
Table 1: Number and percentage of companies split by the gender split of the founders for OECD defined HGEs in the UK
| Gender of founders | Number of companies | Percentage of companies |
|---|---|---|
| All female 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 88聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 5.5%听 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Majority female聽 聽 | 9 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 0.6%聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Equal split聽 聽 聽 聽 | 123 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 7.7%聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Majority male 聽 聽 聽 | 38聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 2.4%聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| All male 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 1,337 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 83.8% 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Total聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 1,595 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 100% 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
Note: Companies are only included where their gender balance is known.
Source: data extracted on 6 March 2023.
Table 2: Number and percentage of companies split by the gender split of the founders for OECD defined HGEs across the UK
| Region 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | All female 聽 | Majority female | Equal split聽 | Majority male | All male聽 聽 聽 聽 | Total聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland 145 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
12 14.6% |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
9 11%聽 聽 |
1 1.2%聽 聽 |
60 73.2%聽 聽 |
82 100%聽 聽 |
| Northern Ireland 48聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
1 3.6% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
4 14.3%听 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 |
23 82.1%聽 聽 |
28 100%聽 聽 |
| Wales 84 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
4 8.7% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
9 19.6%听 |
2 4.3%聽 聽 |
31 67.4%聽 聽 |
46 100%聽 聽 |
| North East 77聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
0 0% 聽 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
4 8.9% 聽 |
1 2.2%聽 聽 |
40 88.9%聽 聽 |
45 100%聽 聽 |
| North West 251 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
8 6.3% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
6 4.7% 聽 |
2 1.6%聽 聽 |
111 87.4% 聽 |
127 100% 聽 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber 187 |
4 4.2% 聽 |
1 1.1%聽 聽 聽 |
5 5.3% 聽 |
1 1.1%聽 聽 |
84 88.4%聽 聽 |
95 100%聽 聽 |
| East Midlands 132聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
3 5.8% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
3 5.8% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 |
46 88.5%聽 聽 |
52 100%聽 聽 |
| West Midlands 154聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
6 8.7% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
3 4.3% 聽 |
1 1.4%聽 聽 |
59 85.5%听 聽 |
69 100%聽 聽 |
| East of England 224聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
6 5.3% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
9 8.0% 聽 |
1 0.9%聽 聽 |
97 85.8%聽 聽 |
113 100% 聽 |
| London 820 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
28 4.4%听 |
5 0.8%聽 聽 聽 |
43 6.7%听 |
21 3.3% 聽 |
543 84.8% 聽 |
640 100% 聽 |
| South East 349 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
13 6.6%听 |
3 1.5%聽 聽 聽 |
17 8.6%听 |
5 2.5%聽 聽 |
159 80.7% 聽 |
197 100% 聽 |
| South West 180 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
3 3.0% 聽 |
0 0%聽 聽 聽 聽 |
11 10.9% |
3 3.0%聽 聽 |
84 83.2%聽 聽 |
101 100% 聽 |
| Total 2,652聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | 88 5.5%听 |
9 0.6%聽 聽 聽 |
123 7.7% |
38 2.4% 聽 |
1,337 83.8% |
1,595 100% |
Note: Companies are only included where their gender balance is known. Total figures are shown under the regions for completeness.
Source: data extracted on 6 March 2023.
Table 3: Average and total funding, employees and turnover of companies split by the gender split of the founders for OECD defined HGEs across the UK
| OECD defined HGEs with at least one female founder[1] | OECD defined HGEs with at least one male founder[1] | OECD defined HGEs聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number (Number reporting full financials last year[2])聽 |
252 (107)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
1,518 (902)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
2,651 (1,594)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Average per funding received [3] (Total)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
5.78 million (拢2.94 billion) 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
9.55 million (拢35.0 billion) 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
9.17 million (拢39.7 billion) 聽 |
| Average employees (Total) 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
186 (around 46,895)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
233 (around 355,078) 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
240 (around 638,544) 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
| Average turnover (Total)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
拢125 million (拢13.3 billion)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
拢93.7 million (拢84.4 billion)聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 |
拢81.0 million (拢129.0 billion) |
Notes: [1] Companies are only included where their gender balance is known.聽 Total figures are shown for completeness.
[2] Company details reflect those that reported full financials in the last period.
[3] Data underlying is comprehensive for announced and unannounced equity fundraisings from 1st January 2011 to present.
Source: data extracted on 6 March 2023.
Appendix: Notes about the data
Source
The data used in this report is extracted from data platform.聽 Their data is collected from Companies House, business websites, and through data partnerships with granting bodies, investors, advisors, and universities. The information while collected, in part, by algorithm is verified manually to ensure its accuracy. Where data cannot be verified it is not included in the platform.
Extraction
The data was extracted from the Beauhurst data platform on 6 March 2023 as part of the subscription held by the Cabinet Office with that company.
Data was extracted based on a set of queries that:
(1) replicated the OECD鈥檚 definition of high growth enterprises where stated.
All enterprises with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three year period should be considered as high-growth enterprises. Growth can be measured by the number of employees or by turnover. A meaningful size threshold聽 should be set to avoid the growth of small enterprises distorting the picture 鈥�. A provisional size threshold has been suggested as 10 employees at the beginning of the growth period.
(2) added to that definition, as needed, to refine searches to specific locations or founders (based on their gender), or the reasons that Beauhurst tracked the data including, but not limited to, that they had received equity investment, graduated from a selected accelerator, spun out from an academic institution or reached scale up status.
The data has not been analysed further by the Cabinet Office, all figures represented are those extracted on 6 March 2023.
Limitations
Where data cannot be verified by Beauhurst using a manual process it has not been included in their platform and, as a result, treated as missing data.聽 Numbers included reflect data verified by Beauhurst only and no additional weighting has been applied following its extraction.