All Categories
Featured
Table of Contents
Trading organizations were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared to December 2025, excluding any seasonal trading. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Nearly a third (31%) of trading organizations reported that their turnover had actually reduced in January 2026 compared to 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 markets with the highest percentage reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the accommodation and food service activities market (52%, which is a 21 percentage point increase from December 2025) the other services market (45%) the arts, entertainment and entertainment market (40%) Around 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point increase compared to December 2025.
For trading organizations with 10 or more workers, 33% reported that their turnover had decreased, which was broadly steady compared to December and January 2025. More than one in five (23%) organizations reported that their turnover had actually increased, up 2 percentage points compared with December 2025. Usually, the percentage of services reporting that their turnover increased associated to the size of business.
IT Innovation Tips for 2026 UK IndustryThe exception to this was the percentage for organizations with 250 or more staff members, which was 25%, and 5 percentage points lower than December 2025 (30%). Trading businesses were asked how they expect their turnover to alter in the coming month. This can then be utilized to predict how the company's turnover will really change once that calendar month concludes.
Trends between predicted turnover and actual turnover have broadly moved in the same direction, the motions for expectations tend to be larger. For presentational functions, some response alternatives have actually been gotten rid of. Data are outlined in the middle of the period of each wave. Care ought to be taken when analyzing expectations questions, as the employees responding on behalf of companies might not have complete oversight of all of their organization's future expectations.

More than one in five (21%) trading companies anticipate 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 anticipating an increase in January 2026 was 13%, while the percentage that reported a real boost in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, suggesting a small pessimism in businesses expectations.
The patterns have actually broadly followed each other given that the concerns were introduced in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the pattern from previous years, with the portion of companies expecting turnover to increase peaking after a decline in January. Bigger services were most likely to expect an increase in turnover in March, with the proportion varying from 20% for companies with 0 to 9 staff members, to 42% for services with 100 to 249 staff members.
For presentational purposes, some action alternatives have actually been removed. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution ought to be taken when analyzing expectations concerns, as the workers responding on behalf of organizations may not have full oversight of all of their service's future expectations. "." represents information not yet readily available.
The proportion of trading organizations that expected a decrease in January 2026 was 25%, while the proportion that reported an actual decline in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of businesses anticipating turnover to reduce for a specific month ahead of time has actually stayed considerably lower than the proportion of services reporting a real reduction in that month because April 2022.
However, expectations for turnover to decrease have regularly followed the same trend, as real reported turnover reduces throughout this time. Trading services were asked what difficulties, if any, were affecting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading businesses 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 staff members, expense of labour was the most often reported difficulty, at 36%. Businesses with 10 to 49 employees were more likely to report expense of labour as an obstacle than organizations with 250 or more staff members (37%, compared with 20%). One in five (20%) trading services with 10 or more employees indicated that they were not presently experiencing any turnover challenges in early February 2026.
Latest Posts

Future Investment Solutions for British Capital Markets
Professional Leadership Analysis for British Global Scale

Accessing VC and Mid-Market Business Growth