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Mr. Fearn
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) shops and (b) manufacturers dealing with optical equipment were trading in Britain in 1987; and what are the current figures.
Mr. Norman Lamont
[holding answer 20 April 1990]: What information is available is shown in the table.
Total number of legal units registered for VAT as at end of April 1989 | ||
1987 | 11989 | |
(a) Shops | ||
Opticians | 22,200 | 2,476 |
Chemists and photographic shops | 8,717 | 8,528 |
(b) Manufacturers | ||
Surgical instruments and appliances | 409 | 402 |
Scientific and industrial instruments and systems | 2,807 | 2,961 |
Photographic and document copying equipment | 124 | 155 |
1 Latest year for which figures are available. | ||
2 Opticians were not required to register for VAT in 1987. This figure, which is comparable to that shown for 1989, is estimated from entries in the Opticians Register for 1987. |
Source: CSO Register of Businesses.