Reviewing Global Trade Reports for British Firms

Trading businesses 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. Almost a 3rd (31%) of trading services reported that their turnover had reduced 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 percentage reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the lodging and food service activities market (52%, which is a 21 portion point increase from December 2025) the other services industry (45%) the arts, home entertainment and leisure industry (40%) Roughly 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point boost compared with December 2025.

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

The 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 organizations were asked how they anticipate their turnover to change in the coming month. This can then be used to forecast how the company's turnover will really alter as soon as that calendar month concludes.

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Patterns between predicted turnover and actual turnover have broadly moved in the exact same direction, the movements for expectations tend to be bigger. For presentational functions, some action alternatives have been gotten rid of. Data are plotted in the middle of the duration of each wave. Care needs to be taken when interpreting expectations concerns, as the workers reacting on behalf of organizations might not have complete oversight of all of their service's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in 5 (21%) trading companies expect their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 portion point increase from February 2026 however was broadly stable compared with expectations for March 2025 (22%). The proportion of trading services expecting a boost in January 2026 was 13%, while the proportion that reported an actual increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, suggesting a slight pessimism in companies expectations.

However, the trends have actually broadly followed each other considering that the questions were introduced in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the percentage of businesses expecting turnover to increase peaking after a reduction in January. Bigger organizations were most likely to anticipate an increase in turnover in March, with the percentage ranging 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 choices have actually been removed. Information are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave. Caution needs to be taken when interpreting expectations questions, as the workers reacting on behalf of services may not have full oversight of all of their business's future expectations. "." represents data not yet offered.

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The proportion of trading organizations that anticipated 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 services expecting turnover to decrease for a particular month ahead of time has actually remained significantly lower than the percentage of companies reporting a real decline in that month because April 2022.

Nevertheless, expectations for turnover to reduce have consistently followed the same pattern, as actual reported turnover reduces throughout this time. Trading businesses were asked what difficulties, if any, were impacting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading organizations reported that financial uncertainty was having an effect on their turnover, which was broadly stable with early January 2026.

For trading businesses with 10 or more workers, expense of labour was the most frequently reported challenge, at 36%. Businesses with 10 to 49 employees were more likely to report cost of labour as an obstacle than businesses with 250 or more workers (37%, compared with 20%). One in 5 (20%) trading services with 10 or more staff members indicated that they were not presently experiencing any turnover obstacles in early February 2026.