What the evidence means
The UK Innovation Survey result covers businesses with 10 or more employees. It should not be interpreted as the share of every business in England.
Covers businesses with 10 or more employees.
G&G verified business evidence
Innovation-active businesses in England from 2022 to 2024
Across 2022 to 2024, 35% of businesses in England with 10 or more employees were innovation active.
35
percent
Original source
Department for Business and Trade
UK Innovation Survey 2025
The country results report 35% of businesses in England were innovation active.
View original evidence
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
Why this matters to UK SMEs
The England result helps businesses benchmark the prevalence of formal innovation activity across the covered employer population. It does not mean that the remaining businesses made no improvements, because the survey applies defined innovation criteria and excludes firms with fewer than 10 employees.
Key breakdowns
Innovation activity was reported by 35% of covered businesses in England, compared with 30% in Northern Ireland, 29% in Scotland and 28% in Wales. Across the UK, the rate was 34%, down from 36% in 2020 to 2022. Large businesses recorded 47%, compared with 34% of SMEs with 10 to 249 employees.
How to interpret this evidence
Innovation active includes businesses undertaking specified product, process or innovation-investment activities during 2022 to 2024. The percentage is a survey classification over a three-year period, not a measure of innovation quality, commercial success or expenditure.
Limitations
The UK Innovation Survey covers businesses with at least 10 employees; microbusinesses are excluded. It sampled 31,150 businesses and received 14,075 responses, so results are weighted estimates subject to uncertainty. Country differences may reflect industry and size composition as well as business behaviour.
Practical considerations
G&G perspective: define innovation around a customer or operational problem, document the intended benefit and test it at a scale the business can afford. Track adoption, cost, delivery risk and commercial results, and avoid labelling routine change as successful innovation without evidence of a meaningful outcome.