A view from London
The latest Deloitte survey of chief financial officers, conducted between 2 and 14 December, shows business sentiment and risk appetite edging up from the autumn lows but continuing to run at below average levels
Ian Stewart
Debapratim De
The latest Deloitte survey of chief financial officers, conducted between 2 and 14 December, shows business sentiment and risk appetite edging up from the autumn lows but continuing to run at below average levels. As in late 2023 and 2024, CFOs see geopolitics, poor UK productivity and weak competitiveness as the top external risks to their businesses in the coming year. Revenue prospects have improved, and CFOs expect inflation, wage pressures and interest rates to ease over the next 12 months. Cost control remains the top balance sheet priority, but slightly less so than in recent quarters. Meanwhile CFO sentiment on capital investment, though subdued, has seen the largest increase since the UK began to emerge from the pandemic.
CFOs are upbeat on tech investment and optimistic about the potential for AI to boost productivity in the long term. 59% of CFOs have become more optimistic over the past 12 months on the potential for AI to boost the performance of their own organisation, up from 39% when last measured in the third quarter of 2024. CFOs believe that technology investment will help lift business performance over the next five years, but expect these gains to be backloaded, with CFOs mostly reporting they expect little change in performance over the next 12 months.
The UK economy grew at just over 1.0% in 2024 and 2025. With CFO confidence and risk appetite at subdued levels, a similar outturn for growth seems likely in 2026. CFOs are positive about the impact of AI in the longer run, but for now the UK lacks a strong impetus for a return to the faster growth rates that prevailed before the pandemic.
By
Ian Stewart
Debapratim De
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