G&G verified business evidence
Across 2022 to 2024, 34% of UK businesses with 10 or more employees were innovation active.
The UK Innovation Survey 2025 sampled 31,150 businesses and received 14,075 responses. Innovation-active businesses introduced or pursued specified product, process or innovation activities.
Covers businesses with 10 or more employees.
Department for Business and Trade
UK Innovation Survey 2025
The headline results report 34% of UK businesses were innovation active.
Department for Business and Trade. UK Innovation Survey 2025. 4th of June, 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-innovation-survey-2025-report/uk-innovation-survey-2025-report
Roughly one third of the covered UK business population met the survey definition of innovation active. For SMEs, the more useful question is which activity creates customer or operational value, rather than whether the business can apply the label to itself.
The UK rate was 34%, down from 36% in 2020 to 2022. Broader innovators represented 39%; 25% were business-process innovators, 19% product innovators and 12% both. Large businesses recorded 47% innovation activity, compared with 34% of SMEs. England was 35%, Northern Ireland 30%, Scotland 29% and Wales 28%.
Innovation active is a defined survey category combining specified product, process and investment activities over 2022 to 2024. It records activity rather than impact. A business can qualify without a successful commercial result, and a useful incremental improvement may not necessarily be understood by respondents in the same way.
The survey covers businesses with 10 or more employees and excludes the substantial microbusiness population. The results are weighted from 14,075 responses to a sample of 31,150 and are subject to sampling and reporting uncertainty. Comparisons do not control for sector, size or market differences.
G&G perspective: maintain a small portfolio of clearly defined improvement or development initiatives, each with an owner, customer or operational hypothesis, budget, decision point and success measure. Stop or adapt weak initiatives early and retain evidence of learning as well as successful launches.
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