| What is a small to medium-sized enterprise? In general, statistical definitions of an SME use one or more of three defining measurements:
- number of employees;
- turnover;
- size of the balance sheet.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) uses the following definitions:
- micro firm: 0-9 employees;
- small firm: 0-49 employees (includes micro);
- medium firm: 50-249 employees;
- large firm: over 250 employees.
The European Commission revised its definition of an SME in 2003.
Table 1: Revised European SME definition
| Enterprise category |
Headcount |
Turnover (€) |
| Micro |
<10 |
<2 million |
| Small |
<50 |
<10 million |
| Medium-sized |
<250 |
<50 million |
|
|
