Survey reveals almost half of businesses are worried their business won’t survive the next 5 years due to increasing costs
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The report, conducted by personalised workwear, uniform and PPE supplier MyWorkwear, has revealed that 72% of businesses surveyed are actively concerned about the upcoming increase to employer’s national insurance contribution and increase in minimum wage, with 68% explaining that they expect to pass these increased cost rises onto their customers.
Tellingly, the results revealed that nearly half of businesses (44%) answered ‘yes’ when asked whether they had concerns that their business would struggle to survive the next five years because of escalating costs.
Tellingly, the results revealed that nearly half of businesses (44%) answered ‘yes’ when asked whether they had concerns that their business would struggle to survive the next five years because of escalating costs.
Over 60% of respondents explained that they were investing in automation and technology instead of people. This was echoed by 57% saying they had shelved plans for recruitment and 28% having made plans for redundancies.
As a branded workwear provider who fosters relationships with businesses across multiple industries, MyWorkwear itself is facing increased costs of around £100,000. James Worthington, Co-Managing Director at MyWorkwear commented: “As a workwear supplier to businesses across the UK we tend to be a pretty good barometer for economic sentiment and the findings of our report strongly echo the feedback we’re hearing from customers in that businesses are struggling and concern is growing about the future of the UK economy.”
He continued, “As well as increasing costs from employer national insurance contributions and increased minimum wage, the report noted that inflation rates are playing a huge concern in business owners' worries as well as a lack of skilled labour. The inflation rates we ourselves are experiencing are causing us to look at new commercial activities and new pricing structures to try and find ways to absorb these price hikes apart from our standard annual price increase”.
The survey found that while almost half of respondents (46.5%) stated that their workwear is not impacted by cost-cutting measures, 13.2% did say that they were removing all non PPE workwear for their staff.
James Worthington continued “We often speak to our customers about the positive impact that workwear can have on employee wellbeing and productivity so seeing that businesses are potentially looking at reducing this is a real shame. However, it’s brilliant to see that less than 15% (12.3%) of people surveyed are considering reducing the quality of their workwear as we strongly advise against this as better quality workwear tends to last longer, showcase the company’s branding more effectively and offer a better wearer experience.”
For further information or to access the full survey, please visit https://www.myworkwear.co.uk/content/79-myworkwear-economic-report-2025
