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📢 📢 GDP 📢 📢

ended 11. February 2026

It's a big news day tomorrow, with the first estimate of the UK economy's performance during the final quarter of 2025 being published (along with the December data). Please respond to the questions below as this will dominate much of the local and national news throughout Thursday. Also, a LOT of journalists have asked us for video shorts on the state of the economy right now through your eyes, so if you record a video response in addition to adding a written one there is a good chance you will be featured in the major news media, both local and national.

  • How was the economy for your business in the final three months of 2025?
  • How has 2026 been to date? Good, bad or ugly - and why?
  • How optimistic are you about the year ahead? Very optimistic, slightly or meh?
  • What are the main challenges you're facing as a business right now?
  • What does the economy need right now, e.g. a rate cut from the BoE, inflation to drop, the Government to reverse some of its punitive tax hikes (think NI)?

Any other thoughts and insights, send them across by 21:00 as we will be writing this story this evening ready to go tomorrow AM. A separate alert will be sent once the official data has dropped.

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
They say a smooth sea never made a good sailor, and after the last two years, any business still standing is becoming a highly skilled one. Business in Q4 2025 was a sideways shuffle at best. 2026 has started on a much cheerier note, as clients have moved away from a purely domestic UK focus and leaned more into overseas markets on both the client and supply side. We’re not in a boom, but we’re not in the abyss either. The main challenges now are recruitment, stubborn skills gaps, and political uncertainty that makes long‑term planning feel like a game of 3D chess.
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Kundan Bhaduri
Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group
This government is somehow desperate for good news. These numbers suggest an economy that has shrugged off the malaise of stagflation and is finally finding its stride. But that is hardly the truth.

The real story is not about the aggregate GDP number, but the quality of that growth. With inflation sticking stubbornly at 3.4% and the Bank of England holding rates at 3.75%, the cost of capital remains prohibitively high for SMEs.
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Colin Crooks MBE HonDsc
CEO at Intentionality
Working across sectors from electronics and architecture to catering, my on-the-ground view is more positive than today's GDP numbers suggest. Q4 was tough as businesses concentrated on managing costs rather than investing in growth. But around 80% of my clients are noticeably more upbeat entering 2026. Enquiries are up, order books are slowly filling, and there's a quiet confidence that I haven't seen for some time.
The biggest challenge I see is the sheer burden on business owners. Most of them are still the engine, the manager, and the decision-maker all at once. My work right now is helping them develop their teams to share the load and free up the owner to actually lead. What government can do to help most is simple: offer predictability and consistency. Introduce changes like the new employment rights steadily, with clear guidance and reasonable timelines. Please don't pile it all on at once and expect small businesses to absorb it overnight