Mint Business Insights: August 2026 edition

Key insights from our latest report:

1. Businesses have a high degree of confidence that their revenues will improve over the coming year. But there is considerable uncertainty about how strong the economy is at the moment and the impact of factors such as the Middle East war and the upcoming general election.

2. Business pricing plans for the moment appear well in check. But some operators have noted that costs are still rising and margins are squeezed. The risk remains that once the economy is much stronger firms will take the opportunity to rebuild their crunched margins.

3. Our survey shows mixed signals regarding the degree of looseness in the labour market. In some sectors staff availability appears relatively tight and this may become an issue next year once businesses become sufficiently confident about the economic upturn to try and boost staff numbers.