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Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

Measuring the scale of the UK's entrepreneurial activity

GEM UK is the world's largest single country study of entrepreneurial activity within the GEM Global consortium.

In 2007,GEM UK surveyed 42,700 adults of working age across the UK, as well as interviewing 40 experts. Through this research, we could determine:

  • how much entrepreneurial activity is taking place in the UK
  • where that activity is
  • how regions compare
  • the types of people who become entrepreneurs
  • the impact that entrepreneurs have on job and wealth creation.

The GEM survey asks participants:

  • whether they are starting up a business
  • whether they own or manage a business
  • if they are running a business, how long they have been doing it for 

From their responses, we can calculate a figure for Total Entrepreneurial Activity in the UK - the TEA index.

This group consists of:

  • those who are setting up a business by themselves or with other people as a stand-alone activity
  • those who are setting up a business by themselves or with other people as part of their work
  • those who own or run a business that has been paying salaries for less than 42 months.

Because of the size of the survey, we have been able to compare regions within the UK and the types of entrepreneurial activity taking place there. This data has allowed us to create regional summary reports, such as those listed below.

For more information and other GEM UK documents and reports, visit the GEM UK microsite on the GEM Consortium website.

Contact us

For more information about GEM UK:

Jonathan Levie
Email: j.levie@strath.ac.uk
Tel: +44 141 548 3482