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Trading organizations were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared to December 2025, excluding any seasonal trading. Information are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Nearly a 3rd (31%) of trading businesses reported that their turnover had reduced in January 2026 compared with the previous month.

The movements are broadly in line with those observed around this time in previous years, with peaks in December followed by little falls in January. The markets with the greatest proportion reporting that turnover reduced in January 2026 were: the accommodation and food service activities industry (52%, which is a 21 percentage point increase from December 2025) the other services market (45%) the arts, entertainment and recreation industry (40%) Roughly 16% of trading organizations reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 percentage point boost compared with December 2025.

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

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

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Patterns between predicted turnover and real turnover have broadly moved in the same instructions, the motions for expectations tend to be bigger. Care needs to be taken when interpreting expectations questions, as the staff members responding on behalf of companies may not have complete oversight of all of their company's future expectations.

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More than one in five (21%) trading companies anticipate their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 percentage point rise from February 2026 but was broadly steady compared with expectations for March 2025 (22%). The proportion of trading organizations anticipating a boost in January 2026 was 13%, while the percentage that reported a real increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, recommending a slight pessimism in companies expectations.

The patterns have actually broadly followed each other because the questions were introduced in April 2022. The outcomes for March 2026 follow the pattern from previous years, with the percentage of companies expecting turnover to increase peaking after a decrease in January. Larger companies were most likely to expect a boost in turnover in March, with the proportion ranging from 20% for organizations with 0 to 9 employees, to 42% for organizations with 100 to 249 staff members.

For presentational functions, some action alternatives have been eliminated. Information are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave.

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

However, expectations for turnover to reduce have regularly followed the exact same pattern, as real reported turnover decreases throughout this time. Trading organizations were asked what difficulties, if any, were affecting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading companies reported that financial unpredictability was having an effect on their turnover, which was broadly steady with early January 2026.

For trading companies with 10 or more staff members, expense of labour was the most often reported obstacle, at 36%. Companies with 10 to 49 workers were more most likely to report cost of labour as an obstacle than businesses with 250 or more employees (37%, compared with 20%). One in five (20%) trading businesses with 10 or more staff members suggested that they were not currently experiencing any turnover obstacles in early February 2026.