In response to the employment aspect of the enquiry, we presented Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) data in tables and charts, from 2003 to 2005, to show employment by each of Advantage West Midlands’ delivery mechanisms: clusters, urban and rural areas, high technology corridors and regeneration zones.
The data revealed that the five sectors employing the highest number of people in the region from 2003 to 2005 remained unchanged (health and social care, retail trade, other business activities, education, and hotels and restaurants).
Although limited data was available on regional entrepreneurial activity for the enterprise element of the enquiry, we provided Small Business Service (SBS) data on the number of VAT registrations and de-registrations by broad industrial groups, to give an indication of the number of business start ups and closures.
In addition, we were aware of the annual survey of entrepreneurship undertaken by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Consortium, and were able to signpost the Fair Finance Consortium to their publications.
The GEM UK 2006 report provides regional data on entrepreneurial activity by gender and entrepreneurial intentions, alongside UK data on entrepreneurial activity by qualifications, occupation, income, ethnicity and birthplace. The GEM West Midlands 2006 regional summary analyses entrepreneurial activity data for the West Midlands and compares this with other regions to draw together key points for the region.