All Categories
Featured
Table of Contents
Trading businesses were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, leaving out any seasonal trading. Information are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Nearly a 3rd (31%) of trading services reported that their turnover had actually reduced in January 2026 compared to the previous month.
Nevertheless, the movements are broadly in line with those observed around this time in previous years, with peaks in December followed by little falls in January. The markets with the highest proportion reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the lodging and food service activities market (52%, which is a 21 percentage point rise from December 2025) the other services market (45%) the arts, entertainment and entertainment industry (40%) Around 16% of trading services reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point increase compared with December 2025.
For trading businesses with 10 or more staff members, 33% reported that their turnover had actually decreased, which was broadly stable compared to December and January 2025. More than one in 5 (23%) companies reported that their turnover had increased, up 2 portion points compared to December 2025. Generally, the percentage of companies reporting that their turnover increased associated to the size of the business.
An Analysis of UK Investment TrendsThe exception to this was the percentage for businesses with 250 or more employees, which was 25%, and 5 portion points lower than December 2025 (30%). Trading companies were asked how they expect their turnover to alter in the coming month. This can then be utilized to forecast how the service's turnover will in fact change when that calendar month concludes.
Trends in between predicted turnover and actual turnover have actually broadly moved in the very same direction, the motions for expectations tend to be larger. For presentational purposes, some response options have actually been eliminated. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution ought to be taken when translating expectations concerns, as the employees responding on behalf of companies might not have complete oversight of all of their service's future expectations.
More than one in five (21%) trading services expect their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 portion point rise from February 2026 but was broadly stable compared to expectations for March 2025 (22%). The percentage of trading businesses expecting a boost in January 2026 was 13%, while the proportion that reported an actual boost in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, suggesting a slight pessimism in organizations expectations.
However, the patterns have broadly followed each other given that the questions were presented in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the pattern from previous years, with the portion of organizations expecting turnover to increase peaking after a reduction in January. Larger services were more likely to expect an increase in turnover in March, with the percentage ranging from 20% for organizations with 0 to 9 employees, to 42% for businesses with 100 to 249 employees.
For presentational functions, some reaction alternatives have been removed. Data are outlined in the middle of the period of each wave. Caution must be taken when analyzing expectations questions, as the workers reacting on behalf of businesses may not have full oversight of all of their organization's future expectations. "." represents data not yet offered.
The proportion of trading businesses that expected a decrease in January 2026 was 25%, while the percentage that reported an actual reduction in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of organizations anticipating turnover to reduce for a particular month ahead of time has remained considerably lower than the percentage of services reporting an actual decline because month considering that April 2022.
Expectations for turnover to decrease have consistently followed the very same trend, as real 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 companies reported that financial unpredictability was having an influence on their turnover, which was broadly steady with early January 2026.
For trading companies with 10 or more workers, cost of labour was the most frequently reported difficulty, at 36%. Companies with 10 to 49 employees were more most likely to report cost of labour as a difficulty than organizations with 250 or more employees (37%, compared with 20%). One in 5 (20%) trading companies with 10 or more staff members indicated that they were not currently experiencing any turnover challenges in early February 2026.
Latest Posts
Human Capital Management Tactics for Global Growth
How Digital Systems Reshape Global Industry
Scaling the UK Talent Pool
