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Trading organizations were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, excluding any seasonal trading. Information are outlined in the middle of the period 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.
However, 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 industries with the highest percentage reporting that turnover reduced in January 2026 were: the accommodation and food service activities industry (52%, which is a 21 portion point rise from December 2025) the other services industry (45%) the arts, entertainment and entertainment market (40%) Around 16% of trading organizations reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 percentage point boost compared with December 2025.
For trading businesses with 10 or more employees, 33% reported that their turnover had reduced, which was broadly stable compared with December and January 2025. More than one in 5 (23%) companies reported that their turnover had actually increased, up 2 portion points compared to December 2025. Usually, the proportion of services reporting that their turnover increased associated to the size of business.
Why British Firms Must Prioritize ESG StrategiesThe exception to this was the proportion for businesses with 250 or more workers, 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 anticipate how the organization's turnover will actually alter as soon as that calendar month concludes.
Patterns in between predicted turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the exact same instructions, the movements for expectations tend to be bigger. Care should be taken when interpreting expectations concerns, as the employees responding on behalf of services may not have complete oversight of all of their service's future expectations.
More than one in five (21%) trading organizations expect their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 portion point increase from February 2026 but was broadly stable compared with expectations for March 2025 (22%). The proportion of trading companies expecting an increase in January 2026 was 13%, while the proportion that reported an actual boost in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a minor pessimism in businesses expectations.
Nevertheless, the trends have broadly followed each other given that the concerns were introduced in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the percentage of organizations expecting turnover to increase peaking after a decrease in January. Bigger services were most likely to anticipate a boost in turnover in March, with the percentage ranging from 20% for companies with 0 to 9 workers, to 42% for businesses with 100 to 249 employees.
For presentational purposes, some reaction choices have been eliminated. Information are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution should be taken when translating expectations questions, as the staff members responding on behalf of organizations may not have complete oversight of all of their company's future expectations. "." represents information not yet offered.
Managing the 2026 Workforce for Enterprise AgilityThe percentage of trading organizations that anticipated a decrease in January 2026 was 25%, while the proportion that reported an actual decrease in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The proportion of companies expecting turnover to reduce for a specific month ahead of time has remained substantially lower than the proportion of companies reporting an actual reduction in that month since April 2022.
Expectations for turnover to decrease have regularly followed the very same pattern, as actual reported turnover reduces throughout this time. Trading organizations were asked what obstacles, if any, were impacting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading businesses reported that economic unpredictability was having an impact on their turnover, which was broadly stable 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 services with 10 or more employees, 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 staff members were more most likely to report expense of labour as a difficulty than organizations with 250 or more workers (37%, compared with 20%). One in five (20%) trading services with 10 or more workers suggested that they were not presently experiencing any turnover obstacles in early February 2026. More information on financial performance, consisting of all action choices categorised by market and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.
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