How Digital Transformation Redefines UK Output

Trading services were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, excluding 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 decreased in January 2026 compared to the previous month.

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

For trading businesses with 10 or more employees, 33% reported that their turnover had decreased, which was broadly stable compared with December and January 2025. More than one in 5 (23%) organizations reported that their turnover had increased, up 2 percentage points compared to December 2025. Normally, the proportion of services reporting that their turnover increased correlated to the size of the company.

The exception to this was the percentage for companies with 250 or more employees, which was 25%, and 5 percentage points lower than December 2025 (30%). Trading services were asked how they anticipate their turnover to change in the coming month. This can then be utilized to anticipate how the service's turnover will really alter once that calendar month concludes.

Analyzing International Trade Reports for British Firms

Although patterns in between expected turnover and real turnover have broadly relocated the exact same direction, the movements for expectations tend to be larger. For presentational functions, some reaction alternatives have actually been gotten rid of. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Care ought to be taken when analyzing expectations questions, as the employees reacting on behalf of businesses might not have full oversight of all of their company's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in five (21%) trading companies expect their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 percentage point rise from February 2026 however 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 an actual increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a slight pessimism in businesses expectations.

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

For presentational purposes, some reaction alternatives have been gotten rid of. Data are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave.

Accessing Business Funding in the 2026 UK Economy

The proportion of trading companies that anticipated a reduction in January 2026 was 25%, while the proportion that reported a real decline in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of organizations anticipating turnover to decrease for a specific month ahead of time has stayed considerably lower than the proportion of services reporting a real decline because month since April 2022.

Expectations for turnover to reduce have consistently followed the same trend, as real reported turnover reduces throughout this time. Trading services were asked what difficulties, if any, were impacting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading companies reported that financial uncertainty was having an influence on their turnover, which was broadly steady with early January 2026.

This is broadly steady compared to early January 2026 and 2 portion points down compared to a year back. For trading companies with 10 or more staff members, expense of labour was the most often reported obstacle, at 36%. This was broadly stable compared with early January 2026. Services with 10 to 49 staff members were more likely to report expense of labour as a difficulty than services with 250 or more employees (37%, compared with 20%). One in five (20%) trading services with 10 or more staff members indicated that they were not presently experiencing any turnover challenges in early February 2026. More details on financial efficiency, including all response options categorised by industry and size band, are readily available in our accompanying dataset.