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Measuring the Impact of Business Profiling in the UK

Keywords: Measuring the Impact of Business Profiling in the UK

Measuring the Impact of Business Profiling in the UK

Business profiling is the process by which large complex businesses on the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) – ONS business register, are individually checked to ensure that the information held on them is accurate and up-to-date. This helps to maintain the quality of the IDBR. Any incorrect business details held on the IDBR can cause problems with survey selection, contributor response or even non-response. All of these factors have a detrimental effect on the quality of ONS outputs. ONS Methodology Directorate has investigated the contribution of business profiling in maintaining the structure of the IDBR. This has been determined by investigating the following areas:-

• How much does employment and turnover change month by month on the IDBR? • How much does profiling change business employment and turnover? • How would the IDBR look if profiling never happened? • What changes on the IDBR are attributable to profiling? • Is there a relationship between the size of a business and the changes in employment and turnover on the IDBR? • Does business profiling improve contributor survey response rates?

This paper will present the results of this work and conclude on the role business profiling plays in maintaining the quality of the UK business register.