Deloitte CFO Survey: 2026 Q1

The quarterly Deloitte CFO Survey has been gauging sentiment and balance-sheet strategies among the UK’s largest businesses since 2007.

Key findings

• Business optimism among UK CFOs has fallen to a six-year low

• Geopolitics is cited as the top external risk, with levels of concern at a record high

• Concerns over inflation and interest rate rises have also risen sharply

• Cost control and building up cash are at the top of the priority list for finance leaders

“The conflict in the Middle East is reshaping business sentiment: it’s created a shock to CFO confidence, lowering optimism to levels we haven't seen since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance leaders are coping with high levels of external uncertainty, and their focus is on managing risks from geopolitics, rising energy prices and higher financing costs.”

“Rarely in the last 16 years have UK CFOs been more focused on cost control than today. This challenging environment is prompting CFOs to scale back expectations for margins and sharpen their focus on cost reduction and cash conservation. The immediate priority for finance leaders is to strengthen balance sheets in the face of external headwinds.”

- Ian Stewart, chief economist

Explore the data

Download the PDF to access all the historical data series from the Deloitte CFO Survey. Data from the CFO Survey is also hosted on LSEG Datastream, Bloomberg, Factset and Macrobond. Please feel free to use any of the data series in your documents or presentations.

Email Thomas Avis to receive a copy of our spreadsheet containing our CFO Survey data.