Business Insights And Impact On The UK Economy - 5 January 2023

6th January 2023

The impact of challenges facing the economy and other events on UK businesses. Based on responses from the voluntary fortnightly business survey (BICS) to deliver real-time information to help assess issues affecting UK businesses and economy, including financial performance, workforce, trade, and business resilience.

In November 2022, approximately one in six (16%) businesses had been affected as a result of industrial action; more than a quarter (28%) of those businesses reported they were unable to obtain necessary goods for their business.

In late December 2022, 5% of businesses with 10 or more employees expected to make redundancies over the next three months; the largest reported reasons for doing so were to reduce staff costs (69%) and certain job roles no longer being required (29%).

Almost a third (32%) of businesses with 10 or more employees reported they were experiencing a shortage of workers, with the human health and social work activities industry (private sector businesses only) reporting the highest proportion of businesses affected, at 51%.

When looking ahead to January 2023, more than one in five (22%) businesses reported energy prices were their main concern, followed by input price inflation (15%) and falling demand of goods and services (14%).

More than a third (35%) of trading businesses with 10 or more employees that had imported in November 2022 reported they had experienced an increase in transportation cost changes compared with October 2022; this was 29% for exporting businesses.

Of currently trading businesses with 10 or more employees, 19% had exported and 25% had imported in the last 12 months. Those businesses that had exported and/or imported were asked how their exporting and importing in November 2022 compared with November 2021, and which challenges they had experienced an increase in compared with the previous calendar month.

Read the full report HERE