An estimated 450,000 businesses nationwide will pay no employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) at all when the new employment allowance is introduced next year, with the largest concentration in London, according to analysis published by HMRC.

This is due to a £2,000 employment allowance, effective from April 2014, which every business and charity in the UK is entitled to. This is expected to help to reduce their employer NICs bill each year, with HMRC estimating that up to 1.25m enterprises in total will benefit under the scheme, which was announced at Budget 2013.

Data released by HMRC, depicting how different regions and industry sectors will benefit from the allowance, shows that 74,000 employers in London will see their employer NICs bill wiped out next year, along with 68,000 small firms in the South East, 44,000 in the East of England and 39,000 in the South West.

In the North West 53,000 will benefit and 35,000 in the West Midlands. In comparison, just 15,000 employers in the North East will see their NICs bill disappear, along with 33,000 small businesses in Scotland.

But accountants MHA MacIntyre Hudson are critical of the data, saying that the allowance is not reaching employers who need it most.

Referring to harder hit areas such as Scotland, the North East and West Midlands, the firm's tax partner, Chris Blundell says that 'although this initiative is a great boost for small employers, it hardly helps the ones who need it the most. It seems unfair that those who will most benefit from the cut in their NIC work in London and the South East. The government needs to take measure to help the rest of the UK.'

Employers in the professional scientific and technical industries head the list by sector, with 78,000 expected to escape paying NICs, along with 39,000 in the retail, wholesale and motor industry and 55,000 employers in construction.

Just 9,000 small businesses in the arts and entertainment world stand to benefit from the NICs cut, as well as 7,000 employers in education and 5,000 in the finance and insurance world. Less than 500 employers in the mining and quarrying industry will see any reductions.