Navigating British Mid-Market Global Growth in 2026

Trading services were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared to December 2025, omitting any seasonal trading. Information are outlined in the middle of the period of each wave. Almost a 3rd (31%) of trading services reported that their turnover had actually decreased in January 2026 compared with 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 greatest proportion reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the accommodation and food service activities market (52%, which is a 21 percentage point rise from December 2025) the other services industry (45%) the arts, entertainment and leisure market (40%) Around 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 percentage point boost compared to December 2025.

For trading services with 10 or more staff members, 33% reported that their turnover had actually decreased, which was broadly steady compared to December and January 2025. More than one in five (23%) businesses reported that their turnover had actually increased, up 2 percentage points compared to December 2025. Usually, the proportion of services reporting that their turnover increased correlated to the size of the service.

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

Modern Capital Market Shifts Impactful for 2026 Growth

Although patterns in between anticipated turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the very same direction, the motions for expectations tend to be larger. For presentational functions, some reaction options have actually been removed. Data are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution needs to be taken when analyzing expectations questions, as the employees responding on behalf of businesses might not have full oversight of all of their service's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in 5 (21%) trading organizations anticipate their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 percentage point increase from February 2026 but was broadly stable compared with expectations for March 2025 (22%). The proportion of trading organizations anticipating an increase in January 2026 was 13%, while the proportion that reported a real increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a slight pessimism in services expectations.

The trends have actually broadly followed each other considering that the concerns were introduced in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the portion of services anticipating turnover to increase peaking after a decrease in January. Larger companies were most likely to expect an increase in turnover in March, with the percentage varying from 20% for companies with 0 to 9 staff members, to 42% for companies with 100 to 249 employees.

For presentational purposes, some reaction choices have been removed. Information are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave. Caution ought to be taken when analyzing expectations concerns, as the workers reacting on behalf of organizations might not have complete oversight of all of their company's future expectations. "." represents information not yet offered.

ESG Mandates and Green Supply Chains Shaping Strategy

The proportion of trading businesses that expected a reduction in January 2026 was 25%, while the proportion that reported a real decrease in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of companies anticipating turnover to reduce for a particular month ahead of time has remained significantly lower than the proportion of services reporting an actual decline in that month considering that April 2022.

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

This is broadly steady compared with early January 2026 and 2 portion points down compared with a year ago. For trading businesses with 10 or more staff members, cost of labour was the most regularly reported difficulty, at 36%. This was broadly steady compared with early January 2026. Businesses with 10 to 49 workers were most likely to report cost of labour as a challenge than companies with 250 or more workers (37%, compared to 20%). One in five (20%) trading organizations with 10 or more workers indicated that they were not currently experiencing any turnover difficulties in early February 2026. Further information on financial performance, consisting of all reaction options categorised by market and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.