Backing your Ambition
The Azets Barometer provides insight into the current and future business climate through the perspective of ambitious businesses and their owners across the markets we serve.
Working in partnership with Meridian West, an independent research agency, we speak to hundreds of business leaders to analyse trends relating to economic outlook, financial performance, and emerging threats and opportunities.
Overall key findings
Cautious optimism prevails as business concerns ease amidst diverse challenges in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.
Optimism grows as the economic outlook improves and cautious optimism continues to prevail
Larger businesses and those with higher turnover remains more optimistic than their smaller counterparts. Denmark leads in optimism, while the UK and Finland lag behind. The finance sector shows the highest optimism, significantly outpacing other sectors, while healthcare lags.
Financial performance remains stable
Business financial performance ratings show no significant change, remaining slightly above the general economic outlook. Larger businesses continue to report higher confidence in their finances compared to smaller ones. The finance sector outperforms all other industries while other sectors cluster around the overall average.
Strategic focus on growth and resilience persists
Businesses maintain a proactive stance on adapting to modern imperatives, including digital transformation, cybersecurity, and sustainability. Expectations for turnover, revenue, and profit have seen modest improvements, indicating growing confidence in core financial performance metrics.
Business concerns stabilise across sectors
Concerns have remained largely stable across various dimensions. Geopolitical uncertainty continues to be the top concern, followed closely by economic uncertainty. Covid-19 concerns have seen a slight increase, though still ranking as the lowest concern overall.
Succession planning gaps persist
Succession planning remains a blind spot for many businesses, particularly smaller ones and those in Finland. The finance sector leads in succession planning engagement while healthcare lags behind, highlighting significant sector-based differences.
Cybersecurity incidents increase
There's a growing trend in reported cybersecurity incidents, with 31% of companies experiencing occurrences in the past year. Larger companies report the highest incident rates. The finance sector faces the highest cybersecurity incident rate at 41%, significantly above the average, while healthcare shows resilience with the lowest rate at 22%. This increase may reflect either rising threats or improved detection capabilities across sectors.
Cashflow forecasting shows stability amid size disparities
Businesses maintain a 10-month average cashflow forecasting horizon. Larger companies and the finance sector forecast further ahead, while smaller businesses and sectors like construction and healthcare have shorter horizons. This reflects varying complexities and resource capabilities across business sizes and sectors.
Inflation impacts reveal uneven pressure across sectors
Higher labour costs and price increases passed to customers are the most common inflation impacts. Smaller businesses are particularly affected, with retail and hospitality leading in price increases to customers. Manufacturing faces the highest pressure on transportation and logistics, highlighting the uneven impact across industries.
Capital spending growth intentions vary widely
Businesses expect an 8.3% average increase in capital project spending. Larger businesses and the finance sector project greater increases, while micro-businesses and healthcare show modest projections. This reflects varying levels of confidence and investment priorities across industries and company sizes.
AI adoption levels expose widening digital divide
AI integration varies significantly, with 32% of companies reporting no integration. Larger companies and the finance sector lead in adoption, while smaller businesses and construction lag behind. Resources, expertise, and sector-specific factors play crucial roles in shaping AI adoption strategies.
