Longitudinal Small Business Survey, Year One and Two, 2015-2016

<I>The Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS)</I> is a large-scale telephone survey of small business owners and managers, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). This survey is the latest in a series of annual and biennial Small Business Surveys (SBS) dating back to 2003.<br>
<br>
From 2015, the survey methodology changed to include a longitudinal tracking element. A large sample size was recruited in Year One (2015) to establish a panel of businesses that will be re-surveyed in subsequent years. This will allow a detailed analysis of how combinations of factors affect business performance.<br>
<br>
The LSBS is intended to:<br>
<li>Improve the understanding of what drives and constrains business performance and growth by addressing evidence gaps relating to the lags between many business activities and associated performance outcomes;<br>
<li>Provide improved data on current business performance and the factors that affect this. The larger survey size will provide more reliable findings for key sub-groups of the business population and in relation to activities such as seeking finance which are only relevant to part of the sample.<br>
<br>
The data currently available include a cross-sectional and a panel data file which include respondents for Year One (2015) and Year Two (2016). It is the intention to repeat the current survey with an updated sample each year for five years. The 2014 datasets, covering the businesses surveyed, businesses with no employees and SMEs with employees, are available via the UK Data Service and held under SN 7814. Further information and research reports are available on the GOV.UK <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/small-business-survey-reports" target="_blank">Small Business Survey reports</a> webpage.<br>
<br>
<i>Secure Access versions</I><br>
A Secure Access version of the LSBS is available from the UK Data Archive under SN 8261, subject to stringent access conditions. Extra variables include postcode district, 3 and 4 digit SIC codes and Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers for linking to other business surveys. SBS data files for 2010 and 2012 containing 4 digit SIC codes and IDBR reference numbers are available under SN 6856. Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL version is sufficient for their needs before considering an application for the Secure Access version.<br>
<br>
<I>New Edition Information</I><br>
For the second edition (January 2018), the cross-sectional and panel data for Year One (2015) and Year Two (2016) have been added to the study, superseding the version of the Year One (2015) only data.<br>
<br>