![\"Fintech](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787886320_19_FT26-HubSpot-Banners-5.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA net balance of 44% of businesses in the country also expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up seven points on last month.<\/p>\n
Business confidence in Scotland still sits above the 12-month average of 46%, with its highest figure of 52% in October 2026.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the next six months, Scottish businesses identified their top target areas for growth as evolving their offering (49%), for example by introducing new products or services, entering new markets (46%) and investing in their team (39%), for example through training.<\/p>\n
The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly and which has been running since 2002, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide.<\/p>\n
Martyn Kendrick, Scotland director at Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking, said: \u201cConfidence has increased among Scottish businesses this month, with firms feeling more optimistic about both their own trading outlook and the wider economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out is that businesses aren\u2019t just feeling more positive, they\u2019re planning for growth. Stronger customer demand is giving firms confidence to invest, whether that\u2019s in technology, new products and markets, or their people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith hiring expectations also rising, there\u2019s a clear sense that Scottish businesses are looking ahead, ready to capitalise on opportunities for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
National picture<\/p>\n
Overall, UK business confidence increased four points in August to 53%, the highest reading since the start of the Middle East conflict in March (55%) and above the 12-month average of 47%.<\/p>\n
This was driven by a second month-on-month increase in economic optimism, up 18 points since June.<\/p>\n
Optimism in the wider economy rose seven points to 49%, compared to a 12-month average of 37%. Of those surveyed, 64% said they were optimistic (up five points from July) in the wider economy, while those who felt pessimistic decreased by two points to 15%.<\/p>\n
The main factors cited by firms who felt more positive included stronger customer demand and improving financial conditions.<\/p>\n
Businesses\u2019 own trading outlook improved two points to a three-month high of 58% in August, compared to a 12-month average of 56%.<\/p>\n
Sixty-six percent of firms (up one point from July) expect an increase in output over the year ahead, while those expecting a decrease in activity reduced by one point to 8%.<\/p>\n
Recommended reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Among firms expecting stronger activity, the main factors were stronger customer demand, increased investment in capacity or tech and improved supply chain conditions.<\/p>\n Amanda Murphy, CEO Lloyds Business and Commercial Banking, said: \u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to see business confidence rise for the second month in a row, reaching its highest level since March.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile international firms remain more confident, it\u2019s good to see domestic companies register a strong month-on-month increase.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, businesses are reporting stronger customer demand, greater optimism about the wider economy and growing confidence in their own trading outlook, all of which will be helping to support investment and growth plans.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile businesses continue to operate in a challenging environment, easing cost pressures and fewer firms expecting to raise prices in the coming year, should allow them to focus less on managing headwinds and more on pursuing growth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Business confidence in Scotland rose 13 points during August to 55%, according to the latest Business Barometer from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1173436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,51,61737,4884,712,88835,31817,1201,16,15],"class_list":["post-1173435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-business","tag-business-confidence","tag-great-britain","tag-scotland","tag-scottish-business","tag-scottish-business-confidence","tag-trade","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117170926406061619","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1173435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1173436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1173435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1173435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1173435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}