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Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Annual Respondents Database (ARD) is constructed from a compulsory business survey. Until 1997 it was created out of the Annual Censuses of Production and Construction (ACOP and ACOC); these were combined into the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) in 1998. The ARD is a census of large businesses, and a sample of smaller ones. Smaller firms may receive a "short form". These do not require detailed breakdowns of totals. Hence for certain variables the values may be imputed from third party sources or estimated rather than returned by respondents. This dataset is created for the Economic Analysis and Satellite Accounts Division for research purposes. To create the ARD, the other surveys are converted into a single consistent format linked by the Inter-Departmental Business Register references over time. Northern Ireland data is held up to 2001. From 2002, the ABI is collected and stored separately in Northern Ireland. Special permission is required to use new NI ABI data. ABI background The ABI is the financial information survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is a statutory survey conducted under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947. Organisations are obliged under this legislation to provide a response. Businesses are sampled from the ONS business register current at the time of drawing the sample: first the CSO Business Register, which ran until 1993; then the Inter-Departmental Business Register, which has run from 1994 onwards. The ONS holds firms' responses to the ABI in the Annual Respondents Database (ARD). The ABI replaced the following annual survey systems in 1998:Annual Employment Survey (AES)Annual Censuses of Production and Construction (ACOP/ACOC), which include the Purchases Inquiry (PI)The six annual Distribution and Services (DSI) inquiries (Annual Wholesale Inquiry; Annual Retail Inquiry; Annual Motor Trades Inquiry; Annual Catering Inquiry;...