Questions to the Mayor of London – answered at on 30 May 2021.
How many Small and Medium Sized Enterprises are there in London and how many of them have you directly supported each year since 2016? Please give a breakdown by London Borough, sector and funding given.
London is home to around 1.1m SMEs, representing over 99% of the capital’s businesses and employing more than 50% of the workforce.
Aggregated data across all GLA group activity to support small businesses is not available, but my core business support programme, the London Business Hub, has supported 4,470 businesses and engaged with nearly 7,000 since November 2016.
Last year, in response to Covid-19, my officers secured an additional £1.5m of European Regional Development Fund support to provide grants to businesses of between £1,000 and £5,000. I also launched the “Back to Business” crowd funding campaign that offered up to £5,000 in match funding to small and independent businesses participating in my Pay it Forward London crowdfunding initiative. In addition to this support I have also created the £100m Greater London Investment Fund that has provided £24.2m in loan and equity finance to SMEs; and have previously invested £18.45m through my London Co-Investment Fund.
Please see breakdown attached for further information.