asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many small businesses were registered for the first time in each of the past five years.
There is no register of "small businesses" as such. Firms not incorporated under the Companies Act are required to register under the Registration of Business Names Act 1916 only if they are not operated under the true name or names of the proprietor or proprietors. These are not necessarily "small businesses" since they include partnerships of, for example, solicitors, accountants or stockbrokers. New registrations under the Companies Acts disclose the amount of capital the company is authorised eventually to issue, but this amount may be greatly in excess of the value of the working capital intended to be raised during the early years of the company's existence.Taking account of the above reservations the numbers registering during the last five years in Great Britain, respectively under the RBN Act and under the Companies Acts, with a nominal capital not exceeding £100 were as follows:
| Registered Business Names | Registered Companies | |
| 1971 | 78,728 | 26,295 |
| 1972 | 95,706 | 40,492 |
| 1973 | 104,825 | 52,288 |
| 1974 | 91,299 | 26,091 |
| 1975 | 95,333 | 28,337 |
| £'000 | ||||||
| Birmingham* | Carlisle† | Glasgow* | Manchester* | Orkneys‡ | Totals | |
| 1965–66 | 191 | — | — | 32 | — | 223 |
| 1966–67 | 220 | — | 3,500 | 30 | — | 3,750 |
| 1967–68 | 162 | 50 | — | 540 | — | 752 |
| 1968–69 | 180 | — | — | 188 | 16 | 384 |
| 1969–70 | 40 | — | — | 78 | — | 118 |
| 1970–71 | 13 | — | — | 23 | — | 36 |
| 1971–72 | 54 | — | — | — | — | 54 |
| 1972–73 | 172 | — | — | — | — | 172 |
| 1973–74 | 3 | — | — | 95 | — | 98 |
| 1974–75 | 56 | — | — | 3 | 9 | 68 |
| 1975–76(to January 1976) | 17 | — | — | 1 | 4 | 22 |
| * Grants payable under agreements providing for the transfer of the aerodromes from the Government to local authorities. | ||||||
| † Grants payable under section 12 of the Civil Aviation Act 1968. | ||||||
| ‡ Grants payable under section 1(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1949. | ||||||