SME stands for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The definition of an SME varies by country and organization, but generally, an SME is a business that maintains revenues, assets, or a number of employees below a certain threshold. SMEs play an important role in most economies, particularly in developing countries, as they account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development. The definition of an SME is important for access to finance and EU support programs targeted specifically at these enterprises. In the United Kingdom, a company is defined as being an SME if it meets two out of three criteria: it has a turnover of less than £25m, it has fewer than 250 employees, it has gross assets of less than £12.5m.