Key findings
- 86% of UK businesses plan at least one route to diversification. On average they plan two.
- 51% plan new products or services and 39% new customer segments.
- 24% are targeting new international markets.
- 61% are confident about growth over the next 12 months. 18% are not.
Are UK businesses confident about growth?
Most are. Six in ten senior decision-makers (61%) are confident about their organisation's growth prospects over the next 12 months: 13% very and 48% fairly. Fewer than one in five (18%) are not confident.
Confidence rises with size, from 55% in organisations with 50 to 249 employees to 77% in those with 5,000 or more.
Six in ten UK businesses are confident about growth
How confident are you about your organisation’s growth prospects over the next 12 months?
- Very confident 13%
- Fairly confident 48%
- Neither / don’t know 21%
- Not very confident 12%
- Not at all confident 6%
Confident about growth, by number of employees
View data
| Answer | % |
|---|---|
| Very confident | 13% |
| Fairly confident | 48% |
| Neither / don’t know | 21% |
| Not very confident | 12% |
| Not at all confident | 6% |
| Confident: 50 to 249 employees | 55% |
| Confident: 250 to 999 | 60% |
| Confident: 1,000 to 4,999 | 63% |
| Confident: 5,000+ | 77% |
How are UK businesses planning to diversify?
Through what they sell and who they sell it to. Half (51%) plan new products or services and 39% plan to reach new customer segments. A quarter plan new routes to market (26%).
Geography comes next: 24% are targeting new international markets and 22% new UK regions. Deals are less common. 14% plan a merger or strategic partnership and 9% an acquisition.
Only 10% do not plan to diversify at all.
Half of UK businesses plan new products or services
Which of the following does your organisation plan to do?
Respondents could choose more than one, so figures total more than 100%.
View data
| Answer | % |
|---|---|
| New products or services | 51% |
| New customer segments | 39% |
| New routes to market | 26% |
| New international markets | 24% |
| New UK geographic markets | 22% |
| Merger or strategic partnership | 14% |
| Adjacent sector | 11% |
| Acquiring another business | 9% |
| Licensing or franchising | 6% |
| Do not plan to diversify | 10% |
What this means
This is not a pessimistic market. The same leaders who worry about employment costs and tax are planning new products, new customers and, for a quarter, new countries.
Two cautions sit under the ambition.
First, most of it is being funded from retained profits, at a time when two-thirds name a cost among their top risks.
Second, new products and new segments both depend on knowing a customer the business doesn't serve yet. That is the part of a diversification plan most often assumed and least often tested.
Frequently asked questions
How many UK businesses plan to diversify?
86% of UK organisations with 50 or more employees plan at least one route to diversification, according to The Reality Department's Business Reality Index.
Are UK businesses confident about growth in 2026?
61% of UK business leaders are confident about their growth prospects over the next 12 months. 18% are not.
Are UK businesses expanding internationally?
24% plan to enter new international markets.
Methodology
The Reality Department surveyed 500 senior decision-makers at UK organisations employing 50 or more people for wave one of the Business Reality Index. Quotas were set by business size, sector and region. Fieldwork: August 2026.
Related: How are businesses funding growth? and Business confidence and resilience
Planning to enter a new market or segment? Work with us.