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So what constitutes a small or medium size enterprise? PDF Print E-mail
Common questions about grant funding answered - Size of business

So what constitutes a small or medium size enterprise?

Annoyingly the definitions used still vary from scheme to scheme, but the European Union schemes and most UK Government schemes adopt the EU definition which came into force on 1 January 2005 which takes account of employee numbers, turnover and annual balance sheet total. In summary: -


A medium sized enterprise must have less than 250 full time employees; either an annual turnover of under 50 million Euro or an annual balance sheet total of less that 43 million Euro; not more than 25% of its control in the hands of a non SME enterprise or jointly held by several non SME enterprises.

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Is company size important PDF Print E-mail
Common questions about grant funding answered - Size of business

Is size important or why do the large companies seem to get most of the money?

The large companies get most of the money because they have specialist departments that do nothing other than chase grants. Furthermore, their projects are naturally larger and therefore attract publicity.

In fact almost all grants, particularly those from the European Union, have specific clauses that favour small and medium size enterprises