Around 15 per cent reported that they expect their turnover to decrease in September this year, decreasing by 5 percentage points (pps) compared with expectations for August. In comparison, 15 per cent reported that they expect their turnover to increase, broadly stable with expectations for August.
Economic uncertainty was the most reported challenge affecting turnover for trading businesses in early August 2025 at 25 per cent, down by 7 pps from early April (32 per cent). For businesses with 10 or more employees, the most commonly reported challenge was cost of labour at 36 per cent, down by 6 pps over the same period.
Around a quarter of trading businesses reported an increase in the prices of goods or services bought in July 2025 compared with the previous month; this is broadly stable with June but down by 7 pps from April, an ONS release said.
Around 12 per cent trading businesses expect the prices of goods or services they sell to increase in September 2025, down by 12 pps from April (24 per cent). Twenty-two per cent of all businesses and 37 per cent of businesses with 10 or more employees cited labour costs as a reason for considering price rises.
Seventeen per cent of businesses with 10 or more employees reported that they experienced worker shortages in early August 2025, which is broadly stable with early July and has steadily declined since early June 2022 (36 per cent).
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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