The indicators and analysis presented in this bulletin are based on responses from the new voluntary fortnightly business survey, which captures businesses responses on how their turnover, workforce prices, trade and business resilience have been affected in the two week reference period. These data relate to the period 6 April 2020 to 19 April 2020.

According to a March 2021 survey conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), UK retailers in the fuel and textile clothing and footwear sectors were hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. About ** percent of fuel retail businesses stated they experienced decrease in their business turnover between February 22 and March 7, 2021. Non-store retailers were the least impacted sector in the group as ** percent of these businesses reported their turnover have increased in this time period and a further ** stated that their turnover have not affected by the pandemic.

This page is no longer updated. It has been superseded by the Business insights and impacts on the UK economy dataset page (see link in Notices). It contains comprehensive weighted datasets for Wave 7 onwards. All future BICS datasets will be available there. The datasets on this page include mainly unweighted responses from the voluntary fortnightly business survey, which captures businesses’ responses on how their turnover, workforce prices, trade and business resilience have been affected in the two-week reference period, up to Wave 17.

Textual analysis of responses from the Business Impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey (BICS), providing further insights into the experiences of individual businesses.

As of August 2020, about 65 percent of businesses in the accommodation and food service sector in the United Kingdom had experienced a decrease in footfall in the last two weeks due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For approximately 10.6 percent of businesses in the industry, footfall had increased.

As of October 2020, about 28 percent of businesses in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector in the United Kingdom had experienced a decrease in footfall in the last weeks due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For approximately 1.8 percent of businesses in the industry, footfall had increased.

A January 2021 survey evaluated the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on domestic business trips in the United Kingdom. According to the study, ** percent of employees working in the professional services sector made domestic business trips in the 12 months prior to the outbreak of the health crisis. In contrast, around ** percent of workers in this sector did the same between March and January 2021.

Turnover expectations of the same businesses over time, using final results from the voluntary fortnightly Business Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey (BICS).

As of November 2021 the overall cost of the United Kingdom's job retention scheme was 70 billion British pounds. The number of jobs furloughed on the scheme has been steadily declining since May 2020, with around 2.4 million jobs still in furlough by the end of October 2020.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had a major impact on businesses within the accommodation and food service industry in the United Kingdom. Fewer businesses were trading at the start of the outbreak in March 2020, with the lowest value recorded during the first few weeks of lockdown from April 6-19 (18.2 percent). Since July most businesses have returned to trading, reaching close to 90 percent in the first week of August. However, the share of accommodation and food service businesses trading have fluctuated from September 21 onwards. By March 21, 2021, the number of businesses trading reached 37.3 percent.

The indicators and analysis presented in this article are based on selected responses over time from the new voluntary fortnightly business survey, which captures businesses responses on how their turnover, workforce, prices, trade and business resilience have been affected in the two week reference period. This data relates to the period 23 March 2020 to 17 May 2020 (Wave 2 to Wave 5).

In the two-week period between March 9-22, 2020, the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak impacted businesses' exporting of goods or services at about ** percent in the United Kingdom (UK). According to the results of a recent business survey released by the Office for National Statistics, only around ** percent of businesses stated their exporting activities were not impacted by the Coronavirus crisis.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

This project undertook two new surveys of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK to shed light on (i) the extent to which, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, SMEs have been adopting technologies or organisational practices that we might consider to be “productivity enhancing”; (ii) whether such innovation persists into the longer run; (iii) its impact on firm survival, performance, employment and worker productivity; and (iv) how government policy might promote the persistence of productivity enhancing changes into the recovery phase. This project will build the evidence base on how to best support businesses, helping to build resilience while also understanding the resulting impacts on employment and firm performance. We collaborated with the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI), building on their quarterly surveys of SMEs to include additional questions on technology adoption (and process/product innovation more generally), enablers and barriers – crucially including business views on potential policy levers. The first deliverable was a report summarising the data collected in July 2020, including analysis of heterogeneity by sector, region and firm type. Approximately 12 months after the initial survey we re-surveyed firms to understand any persistence in technological innovation beyond the immediate crisis. We also plan to track company performance via secondary datasets and changes detectible on their websites (e.g. new online offers). The second deliverable was a report summarising the findings of the second survey. We present new data from two surveys of 375 and 425 UK businesses conducted in July 2020 and July 2021 in partnership with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which seeks to understand the way in which firms have innovated in response to the pandemic. We find that the pandemic has caused enormous business disruption, which has prompted many firms to focus on innovation.This research project builds the evidence base on technology adoption, and examines how government can best support businesses, in particular small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), in the UK at a time of crisis. Working in collaboration with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), this project will design and undertake a new survey of businesses across the UK to shed light on the extent to which, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, businesses have introduced new technologies or organisational practices that are considered "productivity enhancing" in normal times. It will seek to understand the drivers and impacts of such innovation, business perceptions on these, and the relative effectiveness of different business support policies from the perspectives of businesses themselves.

Via a follow-up survey one year on (and linking to secondary data sources), we will examine whether such innovation persists into the longer run, its impact on firm survival, performance, employment and worker productivity; and how government policy might promote the persistence of productivity enhancing changes into the recovery phase.

The first deliverable will be a report summarising the data, including analysis of heterogeneity by sector, region and firm type. The second deliverable will be a report summarising the findings of the combined initial and follow on surveys. Collaborating with the CBI in these bespoke business surveys will help to create relevant and informative questions on product and process innovation, enablers and barriers to innovation, and business views on potential policy levers for the recovery. The project will seek to inform business support policies to enable firms to survive, adapt and grow out of the current crisis.

This report aims to help you understand the impact of the COVID 19 outbreak on an automotive OEM Read More