Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 27 July 2023

• Latest results suggest business conditions continue to remain challenging, however, estimates show signs of improvement for some measures; examples include fewer businesses reporting energy prices as their main concern.

• Around two-thirds (67%) of businesses reported some form of concern for their business when looking ahead to August 2023, which, although broadly stable with July 2023, is the lowest percentage reported since late February 2022.

• Fewer than 1 in 10 businesses (9%) reported energy prices as their main concern for August 2023, the lowest proportion since the question was first introduced in February 2022; more commonly reported concerns included falling demand of goods and services (16%) and inflation of goods and services prices (16%), although 24% of businesses reported having no concerns for their business.

• Around 1 in 8 (13%) businesses were experiencing worker shortages in mid-July 2023, with 38% of those businesses reporting that employees were working increased hours as a consequence; these percentages were 29% and 53%, respectively, for businesses with 10 or more employees.

The data presented in this bulletin are the final results from Wave 87 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS), which was live from 10 July to 23 July 2023.

The data reported within BICS bulletins and datasets are estimates that are subject to uncertainty, for example, sampling variability and non-sampling error. Further information on quality is available in our Business insights and conditions Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) and we regularly update confidence intervals associated with the survey questions.

Experimental single-site weighted regional estimates up to Wave 74 are available in our Business insights and impact on the UK subnational single-site economy: February 2023 article.

Figure 1: Headline figures from the Business Insights and Conditions Survey

Notes:

1. For presentational purposes, some response options have been excluded.

2. Data are plotted in the middle of each wave.

Download the data

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The percentage of businesses that reported they were trading in mid-July 2023 was 94%, with 85% fully trading and 9% partially trading (for example, trading with reduced hours or staff numbers). Meanwhile, 4% of businesses reported “temporarily paused trading” and 2% “permanently ceased trading” as their business’s trading status.

Of currently trading businesses with 10 or more employees, 18% had exported and 23% imported in the last 12 months.

Those businesses that had exported and/or imported in the last year were asked how their exporting and importing in June 2023 compared with June 2022, and which challenges they had experienced an increase in compared with the previous calendar month.

More than half (55%) of exporting businesses with 10 or more employees reported they had not experienced an increase in exporting challenges in June 2023; this was down 4 percentage points from May 2023.

Figure 2: Exporting and importing figures from the Business Insights and Conditions Survey

Notes:

1. Exporting or importing compared with the same month last year: percentage of businesses currently trading with 10 or more employees and had reported they had exported or imported in the last year.

2. Exporting or importing challenges: percentage of businesses currently trading with 10 or more employees, reported they had exported or imported in the last year, and reported how their exports or imports were affected. Businesses may report that exporting or importing has increased or not been affected but are still able to report challenges.

3. Exporting or importing challenges: Response options may not sum to 100% because of rounding, percentages less than 1% being removed for disclosure purposes and some response options being excluded from the import or export question.

4. Caution should be taken when interpreting these results based on the specific routing of this question meaning that only a small number of businesses responded.

5. For presentational and disclosure purposes, some response options have been combined and/or removed.

6. Data are plotted in the middle of the period of each wave.

Download the data

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Further industry, size band and response option breakdowns for all exporting and importing questions are available in our accompanying dataset.

Businesses not permanently stopped trading were asked what their main concern is looking ahead to August 2023.

Businesses were asked for their main concern, however, this does not mean they do not have any other concerns for their business.

When businesses looked ahead to August 2023, 67% had some form of business concern, with falling demand of goods and services, and inflation of goods and services (both 16%) being the most reported main concerns.

Fewer than 1 in 10 businesses (9%) reported energy prices as their main concern, the lowest percentage reported since the question was introduced in February 2022.

The wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles industry had the largest contribution to the fall in the proportion of businesses who reported energy prices being reported as a main concern. This industry saw a fall from 13% in July to 9% in August.

Further details, including the full list of concerns broken down by industry and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.

Hourly wages

Businesses not permanently stopped trading were asked, on average, how their employees’ hourly wages in June 2023 compared with May 2023.

The percentage of businesses that reported their employees’ hourly wages were higher in June 2023, dropped 3 percentage points from 13% when asked in May 2023. The percentage of businesses that reported increased wages spiked in April 2023 to 23%, in line with a rise in the National Minimum Wage; these percentages have remained broadly stable since.

Worker shortages

Those businesses who reported experiencing worker shortages in July 2023 were asked how these shortages had affected their business. The most reported effects were:

• employees working increased hours (38%)

• unable to meet demands (38%)

• had to recruit temporary workers (16%)

Further details on worker shortages, including its effects broken down by industry and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.

Skills

The construction industry reported the highest percentage of businesses with a high demand for manual skills at 52%, the accommodation and food service activities industry reported the highest percentage for customer service skills at 51%, and the information and communication industry reported the highest percentage of businesses needing advanced digital skills, at 42%.

Further details on skills broken down by industry and size band, are available in our accompanying dataset.

Access to microdata

You can access the microdata for Waves 1 to 86 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) through the Secure Research Service (SRS). The BICS microdata for each wave are released on a rolling basis in the week following the publication of each wave. The microdata are made confidential and do not disclose information on any specific business.

Only researchers accredited under the Digital Economy Act, as explained on the UK Statistics Authority website are able to access data in the SRS. You can apply for accreditation through the Research Accreditation Service (RAS). You need to have relevant academic or work experience and must successfully attend and complete the assessed Safe Researcher Training.

To conduct analysis with microdata from the SRS, a project application must be submitted to the Research Accreditation Panel (RAP), as explained on the UK Statistics Authority website. To access the SRS, you must also work for an organisation with an Assured Organisational Connectivity agreement in place.

Reporting unit

The business unit to which questionnaires are sent is called the reporting unit. The response from the reporting unit can cover the enterprise as a whole or parts of the enterprise identified by lists of local units.

More quality and methodology information (QMI) on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) QMI, updated on 24 January 2022.

The BICS is voluntary, and the results are experimental. More information is available in our Guide to experimental statistics.

The results are based on responses from the voluntary fortnightly BICS, which captures businesses’ views on financial performance, workforce, prices, trade and business resilience. The Wave 87 survey was live for the period 10 July 2023 to 23 July 2023. The BICS survey questions are available.

Coverage

The Monthly Business Survey (MBS) covers the UK for production and Great Britain (GB) only for services. The Retail Sales Index (RSI) and construction are GB-focused. Therefore, the BICS will be UK-focused for production-based industries but GB-focused for the other elements of the economy covered. The industries covered are:

• non-financial services (includes professional, scientific, communication, administrative, transport, accommodation and food, private health and education, and entertainment services)

• distribution (includes retail, wholesale, and motor trades)

• production (includes manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, energy generation and supply, and water and waste management)

• construction (includes civil engineering, housebuilding, property development and specialised construction trades such as plumbers, electricians, and plasterers)

The following industries are excluded from the survey:

• agriculture

• public administration and defence

• public provision of education and health

• finance and insurance

For more information on the methodology of producing the BICS, such as weighting, please see our BICS QMI report.

More quality and methodology information (QMI) on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) QMI.