“The net proportion of businesses expressing concern about the availability of finance has crept up over the past two months. But these rises pale into insignificance beside the sharp increase in worries about profitability,” Alexander said.
Other measures also show mild upward trends in input cost worries, though concerns about cash flows remain steady.
Where businesses are spending
Despite the weaker sentiment, many firms are still investing to retain customers and grow market share.
“The top areas of spending intentions are retaining existing customers, investment in new technologies and digitisation, plus presence on social media,” Alexander said.
Spending on advertising is becoming a bigger focus, “an early indicator of businesses backing their hopes of stronger economic activity and presumably customer flows through 2026.”