Business structure: by employment size and turnover

In 2025 there are 45,110 active enterprises in the Lancashire-12 area and in the Lancashire-14 area there are 54,315.

In the Lancashire-12 area 39,760 of the enterprises are of the 'micro' size, employing fewer than 10 persons. This is 88.1% of the total.

Only 170 enterprises, or 0.4% of the total, are of the 'large' size employing over 250 persons.

Preston has the most enterprises at 5,830, accounting for 12.9% of the Lancashire-12 and 10.7% of the Lancashire-14 totals.

At MSOA level 'Preston Town Centre' has most enterprises at 840, followed by 'Elswick, Singleton & Weeton' in Fylde where there are 755.

At all geographic levels the highest percentage of enterprises have turnovers in the range of £100,000 to £199,000.

In Lancashire-12 14,570 enterprises have turnovers in the £100k-£199k band (32.3%) and there are 17,575 enterprises in this band in Lancashire-14 (32.4%).

The number of local units in the Lancashire-12 area fell slightly from 52,120 in 2024 to 51,995 in 2025.