The community business market in 2017

Each year, the Power to Change Research Institute commissions research to estimate the size and shape of the community business sector in England.

This year’s report considers the structure, size and shape of the community business market in England in 2017 and considers the outlook for the year ahead. The report follows on from those of 2014, 2015, and 2016, and presents the most accurate portrait to date of the size and shape of the community business market, as a result of innovations in methodology and an increased use of secondary data for triangulation. However, questions as to the data and its accuracy continue to be an issue. Measuring the growth of the sector is also complicated by community businesses often being engaged in multiple business activities.