Business Insights and Conditions in Scotland (wave 163): 10 September 2026

Key points for businesses with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland:

• in August 2026, 35.3% of businesses reported that their staffing costs had increased over the last three months; this is down from 48.0% in August 2025
• an estimated 12.3% of businesses are using or intend to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model, rising to 45.8% in the Information & Communication sector and 34.4% of businesses in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities sector
• in August 2026, 44.9% of businesses reported they had some form of concern about their supply chains over the next 12 months
• the top supply chain concern for businesses was international conflict (28.4%), followed by shipping disruption (23.1%)  
• an estimated 75.8% of businesses were very or somewhat concerned about energy prices, with this share higher for businesses in the Wholesale/Retail (79.5%), Construction (82.5%), Transport & Storage (83.0%) and Manufacturing (83.9%) sectors
• an estimated 73.6% of businesses were very or somewhat concerned about increases in fuel prices, with this share rising to above 80% for businesses in the Manufacturing, Transport & Storage and Construction sectors

Note that the next BICS Scotland publication, with data to Wave 164, is scheduled for release on Thursday 1 October 2026.