• Prior 54.0
• Final Composite PMI 53.7 vs 53.9 prelim
• Prior 53.7

Key findings:

• Business activity rises for tenth month running in
  February
• New order growth loses momentum
• Job cuts persist amid pressure on margins from
  rising costs

Comment:

Tim Moore, Economics Director at S&P Global Market
Intelligence, said:

“Business activity continued to pick up across the UK
service economy in February, with growth holding close
to the five-month high seen at the start of 2026. Survey
respondents commented on rising new business intakes
and improving sales pipelines. This was linked to greater
business and consumer spending, especially in domestic
markets. Export orders were relatively subdued,
however, and the rate of expansion slipped to a three month low.

“February data pointed to a solid reduction in
employment numbers, despite a sustained recovery in
business activity. Job losses reflected ongoing efforts
to focus on boosting productivity and mitigate sharply
rising input costs.

“Higher payroll costs were widely cited as leading to
a strong pace of overall input cost inflation. Greater
food prices and technology costs were also reported in
February. This contributed to another robust increase
in prices charged by service providers, with the pace of
inflation little-changed from January’s five-month high.”