The research programme had five objectives:<br> to draw upon and develop recent theoretical contributions to the study of industrial organisation, firm behaviour and organisational change in a way which enabled them to be applied to the study of small firm creation, growth and development;<br> to employ this framework to analyse empirically the determinants and constraints upon small business birth, growth and survival in a range of industries including hi-tech sectors, knitwear, printing and publishing;<br> to employ the theoretical framework to analyse empirically the role of interfirm relationships and industrial districts in small firm creation, growth and development; <br> to provide a detailed empirical analysis of the role of acquisition activity in the growth of small firms;<br> to use the results of the theoretical and empirical research programme to evaluate policy proposals at a local, national and European level on a range of issues affecting the creation and growth of small firms.<br> The methodology included econometric and case study analysis. Individual projects were conducted against a background analysis derived from a national postal survey of 2000 businesses and official statistics on the small business sector.<br> The aim of the study was to create a longitudinal panel of small to medium enterprise (SME) data relating to a wide range of non-financial and attitudinal characteristics, and also including a limited number of financial variables not normally available in modified company accounts, from the national postal survey mentioned above. The initial survey was conducted in 1991 (covering 1987-1990). A first recall survey of the same population took place in 1993, and a second in 1995.<br> The initial deposit of this study included only the results of the first survey. For the second edition of February 2002, the data and documentation were updated to include the 1993 and 1995 recall surveys.

The theories which have sought to explain the phenomena of agglomeration and deglomeration of firms have focused mostly on manufacturing industries and are dominated by manufacturing paradigms. Many of the factors cited in these theories to derive agglomeration may not be applicable to professional business service (PBS) industries (such as internal and external economies of scale, disintegration, flexible specialisation). Yet, geographic clusters of firms, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) competing in the same industry, exist also in PBS industries to which existing theory provides only limited explanation. <br> The location of PBS firms has attracted the attention of economic geographers, who have also sought explanations for the concentration of these firms in particular locations. The main reason cited to explain this phenomenon is demand driven, that is, PBS firms locate themselves in proximity to their clients. This explanation seems to be limited and does not acknowledge a range of both demand and supply factors which may affect this pattern of geographical concentration.<br> This research seeks explanations for two apparently contradictory phenomena related to the location of PBS firms. The first is the existence of geographical clusters of PBS SMEs in large metropolitan centres such as London. The second is the deglomeration of PBS SMEs, to the extent that these have been locating since the 1970s in smaller towns and even rural areas of England away from the main geographical clusters. The research is designed to acknowledge the unique characteristics of these industries (such as short value added chains typically implemented by a single production unit, limited potential for economies of scale in production, competitive advantage based on embodied expertise), which distinguish them from both manufacturing and other service industries, and which may explain both the geographical clusters of some firms in these industries and the de-concentration of others.

The project investigates the extent, nature and importance of technological, information and other linkages between firms themselves and between firms, research institutions and other private and public sector bodies in the Cambridge and Oxford regions and addresses the question of how far these territorial clusters reflect the core characteristics of an 'innovative milieu', that is, a form of networking characterised both by vertical subcontracting chains and horizontal linkages with the providers of financial, technical, fashion, design, marketing and training services and advice.