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UK economy grows by 0.7% in Q1: views from business owners in the economy

ended 15. May 2025

UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.7% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025, following growth of 0.1% in the previous quarter, according to the ONS. Services delivered growth of +0.7%, production +1.1%, while construction (0.0%) was flat. Newspage asked business owners from all sectors for their views on the current health of the economy, how they're faring at present and the potential impact of this data on the Pound and base rate. Views will appear below until 08:15.

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Harry Mills
Director at Oku Markets
The UK economy grew by an estimated 0.7% in the first quarter of 2025, slightly beating forecasts and delivering a significant improvement on the prior period's lacklustre 0.1% growth. On the face of it, this is good news, and I'm sure the government will lean on this result to quieten the gloomy background music, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Export volumes rose by 3.5% in Q1 after three straight quarters of declines, driven by a 5.6% increase in goods exports. This isn't a coincidental improvement in the health of the UK exporting economy – this is representative of a pre-tariff rush of sales. Sterling benefited slightly on the release of the GDP data, but gains may be limited as investors see through this temporary upside blip in growth. Q2 data will likely reflect a much more anaemic outlook.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Does a stronger economy need additional base rate cuts? That’s the question the Monetary Policy Committee will be asking at their next meeting. The expectation of deep and rapid rate cuts for 2025 could be short-lived.
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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
Today’s figures will be a welcome boost for Rachel Reeves, finally putting some decent growth on the table. Perhaps there’s hope that the Chancellor’s much-talked-about Growth Agenda may yet deliver. But we’re far from out of the woods. Construction has flatlined, hardly encouraging when the government is banking on 1.5 million new homes to fuel growth and tackle the housing crisis. And while rising wages are good news for hard-pressed workers and our consumer-led economy, they could come at a cost. Higher labour costs risk making our exports less competitive, especially with recent National Insurance hikes adding further strain.
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Keith Budden
Managing Director at Ensurety
It is obviously welcome news that the headline growth figure has risen dramatically (OK 0.6% increase might not seem that much but it is significant as it is ahead of forecasts).

Doubtless Rachel Reeves will be rubbing her hands with glee but before she tells her office team "the Greggs round is on me" today, she should take a closer look at two elements of the figures. First, that the growth in production is likely to include a "one-off" component of companies rushing to get orders out of the door and goods shipped to the US before the Trump tariff drawbridge started to raise, and second that construction is flatlining - this is a significant indicator that the Labour housing target is looking more unattainable than ever. Maybe, just maybe, its time for Government to inject money into housing associations so they can build more houses.

Rachel Reeves should remember the old maxim "a poor politician uses statistics like a drunk uses a lamppost, for support rather than enlightment".