Definitions
Number of Units
This relates to the number of individual business sites e.g. a plant, factory, shop etc.
Total employees
This is the point in time estimate of full and part time employees on the payroll on a set day.
Please note that Total Employees is a head count and not a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) measure. This distinction is particularly important for sectors with high levels of part time employment (e.g. Retail and Hotels & Restaurants) especially when comparing Per Employee figures.
Total turnover
Turnover is defined as Total sales and work done. This is calculated by adding to the value of Sales of goods produced, Goods purchased and resold without further processing, Work done and industrial services rendered and Non industrial services rendered.
Purchases of goods & services
This represents the value of all goods and services purchased during the year.
Gross Value Added at Basic Prices
Approximate gross value added represents the income generated by businesses out of which is paid wages and salaries, the cost of capital investment and financial charges, before arriving at a figure for profit. It includes taxes on production (e.g. business rates), net of subsidies but excludes subsidies and taxes on products (e.g. VAT and excise duty).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) defines GVA as:
"Gross value added (GVA) represents the amount that individual businesses, industries or sectors contribute to the economy. Broadly, this is measured by the income generated by the business, industry or sector less their intermediate consumption of goods and services used up in order to produce their output. GVA consists of labour costs (e.g. wages and salaries) and an operating surplus (or loss). The latter is a good approximation to profits. The cost of capital investment, financial charges and dividends to shareholders are met from the operating surplus.
Data collected and published through the ONS Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) are used to produce an approximate estimate of GVA at basic prices. This measure is approximate because it does not allow fully for certain types of National Accounts concepts/issues such as taxes or subsidies or income earned-in-kind.
The ABI forms a major data input in the production of Input-Output Annual Supply and Use Tables used to set the annual level of UK Gross Domestic Product. These tables also show industry estimates of GVA at basic prices but are different from those shown in the ABI. In producing the Input-Output based estimates of GVA at basic prices fully consistent with the European System of Accounts 1995, there are essentially four key adjustments required to the survey based data: coverage adjustments; conceptual and valuation adjustments; quality adjustments; and coherence adjustments. Details are available in the notes to the United Kingdom Input-Output Analyses.
Estimates of Gross Value Added shown here for Regional data will also not be exactly the same as those published in the Regional Accounts for the same reasons. Further information available on the Regional Accounts product page at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=7359 "
Total Taxes
These are the amounts payable to the government for taxes, levies and duties. Included are rates relating to industrial and commercial property which are payable to the government via local authorities.
Increase in Total stocks
This represents the increase during the year for materials, stores and fuel, and goods on hand for sale. Amounts for materials which have been partially processed but which are not usually sold without further processing are also included.
Gross Wages & Salaries
This represents the amount paid to employees (in cash or kind). This includes gross wages and salaries and redundancy and severance payments to employees. Payment to working proprietors, travelling expenses, lodgings allowances etc. are excluded.
Total Labour Costs
This represents the total cost to employers of employing staff. This includes gross wages & salaries (as defined above) and also employers' National Insurance contributions and contributions to other pension and welfare schemes.
Total Output at Basic Prices
Output is essentially the measure of productive activity and covers - market output, output produced for own final use and other non-market output.