Costs up, confidence down: Business Barometer Q4 2025 Results
Buckinghamshire Business First's (BBF) Buckinghamshire Business Barometer tracks local business confidence and performance, and gauges views on topical issues.
The latest survey results
In the latest survey of 109 businesses, surveyed between 2nd December 2025 and 9th January 2026, BBF explored:
- the impact of announcements in the 2025 Autumn Budget on Buckinghamshire’s businesses
- key challenges businesses expect to face in 2026
- the extent to which recruitment challenges are due to skills shortages
Headline insights include:
- 45% of businesses reported that trading conditions were worse than normal, and 13% reported conditions were better than normal.
- The net balance* of trading conditions compared to normal was -32%, consistent with the previous Q2 2025 barometer (-31%), but remaining negative.
- A net balance of 75% of businesses reported increased costs in the past 12 months. Net balances for profitability and turnover were both negative (-36% and -12% respectively).
- Following the announcements made at Autumn Budget 2025, almost two thirds of businesses (65%) were less confident about the year ahead. Key reasons for reduced confidence included: rising costs, taxation and policy uncertainty, and reduced demand from consumers / businesses.
- Going into 2026, common challenges which businesses expected to face included: rising operational costs, recruitment and skills shortages, market uncertainty with weak demand, difficulties in generating and retaining sales, cash flow pressures, and an increasing compliance and regulatory burden.
- About a third of responding businesses had tried to recruit in the past 12 months, with half of these businesses struggling to recruit due to a lack of skills in applicants.
*The % of firms reporting an increase minus the % reporting a decrease.
Read the full report here - Costs up, confidence down: Business Barometer Q4 2025 Results - Buckinghamshire Business First
