Market Update: We break down the business implications, market impact, and expert insights related to Market Update: Business insights and impact on the UK economy – Full Analysis.
3. Financial performance
Trading businesses were asked how their turnover in July 2025 compared with June, excluding any seasonal trading.
Figure 1: 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover had increased in July 2025 compared with the previous calendar month
Impact on turnover, businesses currently trading, weighted by count, UK, 1 March 2022 to 31 July 2025
Source: Business Insights and Conditions Survey from the Office for National Statistics
Notes:
- Data are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave.
Download this chart Figure 1: 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover had increased in July 2025 compared with the previous calendar month
Image
.csv
.xls
Approximately 16% of trading businesses reported that their turnover had increased in July compared with the previous calendar month. This proportion has remained broadly stable since April and is broadly consistent with previous years.
Larger businesses were more likely to report an increase in turnover than small businesses, a pattern visible every month since the question was introduced in March 2022. The proportion ranged from 14% for businesses with 0 to 9 employees, to 36% for businesses with 100 to 249 employees, in July. For businesses with 10 or more employees, the proportion was 27%.
Conversely, 24% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased, with this proportion remaining broadly stable since March, but down 6 percentage points from the peak over the last 12 months in December 2024 (30%).
The education industry had the highest proportion of businesses reporting that their turnover had decreased, at 38%. This is likely because of seasonal patterns of activity for businesses within this industry.
Turnover challenges
Trading businesses were asked what challenges, if any, were impacting their turnover in early August 2025.
Figure 2: Economic uncertainty (25%) was the most commonly reported challenge impacting businesses’ turnover in early August 2025
Turnover challenges, businesses currently trading, weighted by count, UK, 19 April 2022 to 17 August 2025
Source: Business Insights and Conditions Survey from the Office for National Statistics
Notes:
- Data are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave.
- For presentational purposes, some response options have been removed.
Download this chart Figure 2: Economic uncertainty (25%) was the most commonly reported challenge impacting businesses’ turnover in early August 2025
Image
.csv
.xls
Approximately 25% of trading businesses reported that economic uncertainty was having an impact on their turnover in early August. It has consistently been the most reported challenge since October 2022, despite falling 4 percentage points from early July, and 7 percentage points from the recent peak reached in early April.
The accommodation and food service activities industry had the highest proportion of businesses reporting at least one challenge impacting turnover at 73%.
For businesses with 10 or more employees, the cost of labour was reported as the main challenge (36%), broadly consistent with early July 2025. While down 6 percentage points from early April, it has been the most reported challenge since November 2024. The accommodation and food service activities industry had the highest proportion of businesses reporting this as a challenge (61%).
Despite this, 34% of all trading businesses and 22% of trading businesses with 10 or more employees indicated that they were not currently experiencing any turnover challenges in early August, rising 2 and 3 percentage points, respectively from early July.
Turnover expectations
Trading businesses were asked what their expectations were for their turnover in September 2025.
For all trading businesses, 15% reported that they expect their turnover to decrease in September, 5 percentage points down from August, but broadly stable compared with the three months prior. The accommodation and food services industry reported the highest proportion, with 23% expecting a decrease in turnover.
Approximately 1 in 7 (15%) of trading businesses reported that they expect their turnover to increase, with this proportion remaining broadly stable since April.
Larger businesses were more likely to say they expected turnover to increase, with 14% of businesses with 0 to 9 employees reporting increased turnover expectations compared with 30% of businesses with 250 or more employees. For all businesses with 10 or more employees, the proportion was 21%, which was broadly stable from August, but down 9 percentage points from the recent peak in March (31%).
Further details on financial performance, including all response options broken down by industry and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.