Leveraging AI for Enhanced Workforce Optimization in 2026

Trading companies were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, leaving out any seasonal trading. Information are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Almost a third (31%) of trading services reported that their turnover had actually reduced in January 2026 compared with the previous month.

Nevertheless, the motions are broadly in line with those observed around this time in previous years, with peaks in December followed by small falls in January. The industries with the greatest percentage reporting that turnover reduced 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 market (45%) the arts, home entertainment and recreation market (40%) Approximately 16% of trading organizations reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point increase compared with December 2025.

For trading services with 10 or more workers, 33% reported that their turnover had actually reduced, which was broadly stable compared to December and January 2025. More than one in 5 (23%) businesses 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 associated to the size of the business.

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

Accessing Business Funding in the 2026 UK Landscape

Trends in between anticipated turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the very same instructions, the motions for expectations tend to be bigger. Care needs to be taken when analyzing expectations concerns, as the workers responding on behalf of services might not have full oversight of all of their business'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 percentage point increase from February 2026 but was broadly stable compared to expectations for March 2025 (22%). The percentage of trading businesses anticipating a boost in January 2026 was 13%, while the percentage that reported an actual boost in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a small pessimism in services expectations.

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

For presentational functions, some response alternatives have been removed. Data are outlined in the middle of the period of each wave.

Optimizing Talent Acquisition for the 2026 Business Landscape

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

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

This is broadly stable compared to early January 2026 and 2 percentage points down compared to a year back. For trading companies with 10 or more employees, cost of labour was the most often reported challenge, at 36%. This was broadly stable compared with early January 2026. Companies with 10 to 49 staff members were more most likely to report expense of labour as a difficulty than companies with 250 or more employees (37%, compared to 20%). One in five (20%) trading services with 10 or more staff members suggested that they were not presently experiencing any turnover difficulties in early February 2026. Further details on monetary performance, consisting of all response alternatives categorised by market and size band, are readily available in our accompanying dataset.