BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 89

Latest main findings for businesses with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland

• in Wave 89, 41.6% of applicable businesses reported difficulties in recruiting employees in July. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Construction (46.6%) and Accommodation & Food Services (46.3%) industry sectors
• in Wave 89, 27.7% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in July 2023 had increased compared with June 2023 – down from 32.2% in the previous month
• the industry sector with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought was Accommodation & Food Services (46.0%) – down from 58.4% in the previous month
• in Wave 89, 22.2% of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in July 2023 compared to the previous calendar month. Whereas 26.3% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period – rising to 39.0% of businesses in the Manufacturing industry sector
• in Wave 89, 38.0% of businesses thought their performance would increase over the next 12 months. 7.6% expected performance to decrease