Introduction According to the latest British Chambers of Commerce Economic Forecast published in June 2026, UK GDP is forecast to grow by 0.9% in 2026, followed by 1.0% in 2027 and 1.3% in 2028. In terms of individual sector forecasts, services have a predicted year-on-year growth of 1.3% in 2026, manufacturing will increase by 0.8%. … Read more
Introduction According to the International Innovation Barometer 2026 published by the Ayming Institute, which examines the views of innovation leaders across 17 countries and six sectors, 96% of businesses questioned now report having a dedicated innovation team, which is up from 78% last year. This increase has spanned across businesses of all sizes, with only … Read more
Introduction According to a May 2026 survey by Octane Capital property developer confidence fell in Q1 of 2026, with just 35% of developers surveyed believing that UK property market conditions will improve in 2026. This figure is down from 67% in Q4 of 2025, a decrease of almost a third. Plans to progress on or … Read more
Introduction According to the latest REC and KPMG UK Report on Jobs for May 2026, permanent staff placements rates fell to 47.5 in April 2026, down from 49.2 in March. In terms of the index 50.0 represents no growth, above 50.0 means there has been growth and any figure below 50.0 represents a decline in … Read more
Introduction According to recent analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), among the G7 countries the UK is ranked 6th in terms of investment from private businesses at a rate of 11.1% of GDP, with only Canada ranking lower in the group. For comparison, Japan sees businesses invest 18.2% of GDP and France … Read more
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