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
Introduction According to the latest Barclays Business Prosperity Index 86% of UK firms stated that they were confident in the strength of their business in Q4 of 2025. In terms of growth prospects, 58% of business leaders believe that the UK is a more attractive market to start, scale and grow a business when compared with … Read more
Introduction According to Innovate UK’s State of Innovation Report 2025, innovative businesses are finding their average sales growth increased by 7% over the last year, which is well above the average for non-innovators, where growth stagnated at 0.4%. There is even more impressive sales growth for “frontier firms” at 9% over the last year. Frontier … Read more
Introduction According to a Post-Budget end of 2025 survey providing an outlook of UK Landlord intentions for 2026 by Lendlord, 66% of UK landlords are planning growth activity over the next 12 months. This growth activity covers acquisition of new property, refinancing and refurbishment and shows that despite current economic uncertainty there is still a … Read more
UK research and innovation funding is entering a period of significant change. UK Research and Innovation, which invests around £8 billion a year, has confirmed it will pause and reshape parts of its funding while moving to a more focused investment model. For UK SMEs interested in R&D funding, this shift brings both challenges and … Read more