Modern Capital Market Trends Impactful for 2026 Growth

Trading services were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, omitting any seasonal trading. Information are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave. Almost a 3rd (31%) of trading companies reported that their turnover had reduced in January 2026 compared with the previous month.

However, 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 reduced 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 industry (45%) the arts, home entertainment and leisure market (40%) Roughly 16% of trading companies reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point increase compared with December 2025.

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

The exception to this was the proportion for organizations with 250 or more employees, which was 25%, and 5 portion 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 used to predict how business's turnover will really alter when that calendar month concludes.

Reviewing Global Trade Outlooks for British Industry

Trends in between expected turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the very same instructions, the motions for expectations tend to be larger. Caution needs to be taken when interpreting expectations questions, as the staff members responding on behalf of services might not have complete oversight of all of their service's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in five (21%) trading businesses anticipate their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 portion point increase from February 2026 but was broadly steady compared to expectations for March 2025 (22%). The percentage of trading businesses expecting an increase in January 2026 was 13%, while the proportion that reported an actual boost in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, suggesting a small pessimism in organizations expectations.

The patterns have broadly followed each other since the concerns were presented in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the portion of businesses expecting turnover to increase peaking after a reduction in January. Bigger companies were most likely to anticipate an increase in turnover in March, with the proportion ranging from 20% for services with 0 to 9 employees, to 42% for companies with 100 to 249 staff members.

For presentational functions, some reaction options have actually been removed. Information are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave. Care ought to be taken when interpreting expectations concerns, as the employees responding on behalf of businesses might not have full oversight of all of their organization's future expectations. "." represents data not yet available.

Securing Corporate Funding in the 2026 UK Landscape

The percentage of trading organizations that expected a decrease in January 2026 was 25%, while the percentage that reported a real decline in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The percentage of companies expecting turnover to reduce for a specific month ahead of time has actually remained substantially lower than the percentage of organizations reporting a real reduction in that month since April 2022.

Expectations for turnover to reduce have consistently followed the very same trend, as real reported turnover reduces throughout this time. Trading organizations were asked what obstacles, if any, were affecting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading businesses reported that economic unpredictability was having an influence on their turnover, which was broadly stable with early January 2026.

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