Introduction According to the SME State of Trade Survey covering H2 of 2025, 49% of small building firms noted that they had job delays due to a lack of skilled tradespeople. This has had an impact on both commercial renovation and building activities as well as residential builds. Whilst 35% of SME builders have increased … Read more
Introduction According to the Sustainability Pulse Survey for 2026 from HSBC, 98% of UK business leaders surveyed stated that they believe climate transition for their operations should be treated as a commercial opportunity. The survey has recorded trends for UK, European and Global businesses on environmentally sustainable transition goals. It is the case that 90% … Read more
Introduction According to the 2026 KPMG Private Enterprise Barometer, in terms of growth metrics 4 out of 5 UK businesses surveyed are expecting their revenue to increase over the next 12 months and around 25% of businesses are expecting a significant rise in revenues. Regarding funding for growth options, 59% of businesses plan to use … Read more
Introduction The University of Cambridge has released its key UK Innovation Report 2026 that reveals innovation trends over a number of years and benchmarks the UK’s performance on innovation activity against other global economies. The report has uncovered that the UK was ranked 6th for Research and Development (R&D) investment in 2023, with a spend … Read more
Introduction According to the latest SME Developer Sentiment Survey for March 2026 from the Home Builders Federation, there is a cautiously optimistic view amongst UK SME housing developers with a +12% increase in respondents stating they expect to increase the number of new housing build starts they plan to work on over the next 3 … Read more
Introduction According to the latest Q2 2026 survey from ManpowerGroup, hiring confidence has increased to 27% for businesses across the UK, representing a 15% increase on the previous quarter. This strong increase represents one of the highest quarterly uplifts in 5 years and signifies that business hiring plans have increased across the market. Overall, 47% … Read more
Introduction According to insights extracted by Retail Tech Innovation Hub from the 29th PwC CEO Survey, 81% of UK CEOs who were surveyed stated that investment in technology, AI and data management hardware and software was their main priority in 2026. This is a strong increase from 60% in 2025. It is the case that … Read more
Introduction According to the Future Space Report 2026 from Savills, 43% of commercial premises occupiers in the industrial and logistics sector are expecting business conditions to improve over the next 12 months. As a direct result of tariffs administered by President Trump international trade issues are under the spotlight for exporting businesses and those in … Read more
Introduction According to a 2026 survey from the British Chambers of Commerce, around 27% of UK businesses are struggling to pay their energy bills due to continued high energy costs. There are higher levels of difficulties in the manufacturing sector with 35% stating they are struggling with energy costs and 34% in consumer facing businesses … Read more
Introduction According to a recently published report by the Enterprise Research Centre titled The State of Small Business Britain 2025 Navigating Uncertainty, more than one-third (36%) of working age UK adults are now starting, running or planning to launch a business, which is the highest level for UK entrepreneurial activity since 1999 when this activity … Read more