Securing Business Funding in the 2026 UK Economy

Trading organizations were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared to December 2025, omitting any seasonal trading. Data are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Almost a third (31%) of trading organizations reported that their turnover had actually reduced in January 2026 compared with the previous month.

The movements are broadly in line with those observed around this time in previous years, with peaks in December followed by small falls in January. The industries with the greatest proportion reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the lodging and food service activities industry (52%, which is a 21 portion point increase from December 2025) the other services industry (45%) the arts, entertainment and leisure market (40%) Around 16% of trading companies reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 percentage point increase compared to December 2025.

For trading services with 10 or more workers, 33% reported that their turnover had decreased, which was broadly stable compared to December and January 2025. More than one in five (23%) services reported that their turnover had actually increased, up 2 percentage points compared with December 2025. Normally, the percentage of companies reporting that their turnover increased associated to the size of the organization.

The exception to this was the proportion for businesses with 250 or more employees, which was 25%, and 5 portion points lower than December 2025 (30%). Trading organizations were asked how they anticipate their turnover to change in the coming month. This can then be used to forecast how the company's turnover will really change once that calendar month concludes.

Analyzing International Trade Reports for UK Industry

Trends in between anticipated turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the same instructions, the movements for expectations tend to be bigger. Caution should be taken when interpreting expectations questions, as the staff members reacting on behalf of services may not have complete oversight of all of their organization's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in 5 (21%) trading companies anticipate their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 percentage point rise from February 2026 but was broadly steady compared to expectations for March 2025 (22%). The proportion of trading organizations expecting a boost in January 2026 was 13%, while the percentage that reported an actual increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a minor pessimism in companies expectations.

The patterns have actually broadly followed each other given that the concerns were introduced in April 2022. The results for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the percentage of companies anticipating turnover to increase peaking after a decline in January. Bigger services were more most likely to anticipate a boost in turnover in March, with the proportion varying from 20% for organizations with 0 to 9 workers, to 42% for companies with 100 to 249 employees.

For presentational functions, some action choices have actually been eliminated. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution must be taken when interpreting expectations questions, as the staff members reacting on behalf of services may not have complete oversight of all of their organization's future expectations. "." represents information not yet readily available.

Leveraging AI for Strategic Workforce Management in 2026

The percentage of trading businesses that expected a decline in January 2026 was 25%, while the percentage that reported a real decrease in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of companies anticipating turnover to decrease for a specific month ahead of time has actually remained substantially lower than the percentage of organizations reporting a real reduction in that month given that April 2022.

Expectations for turnover to decrease have consistently followed the exact same trend, as actual reported turnover decreases throughout this time. Trading companies were asked what difficulties, if any, were impacting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading organizations reported that economic uncertainty was having an effect on their turnover, which was broadly steady with early January 2026.

This is broadly steady compared with early January 2026 and 2 percentage points down compared with a year earlier. For trading services with 10 or more staff members, expense of labour was the most regularly reported obstacle, at 36%. This was broadly steady compared with early January 2026. Businesses with 10 to 49 workers were more likely to report cost of labour as a difficulty than businesses with 250 or more staff members (37%, compared to 20%). One in 5 (20%) trading companies with 10 or more employees indicated that they were not currently experiencing any turnover obstacles in early February 2026. More details on monetary performance, consisting of all response alternatives categorised by industry and size band, are offered in our accompanying dataset.