IHS Markit and CIPS recently released 5th October 2020 UK Services PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) Report. This report looks specifically at the demand and disruption trends that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor that constricted business activity. The report looks at the economy as a whole as well as dividing it into Service Sub-Sectors and an International PMI.

Please find below some of the key highlights from the report:

• This is the third successive month of growth, albeit at a slower rate
• There has been a rise in new business linked to improved market conditions
• Cost concerns lead to another round of job losses
• UK services business activity index for September has dropped to 56.1 from 58.8

“The UK service sector continued its recent recovery from the sharp downturn related to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in 2020, with business activity rising for a third successive month.” UK Services PMI Report

The business-to-business service sector is holding up remarkably well for the third month in a row. It will be interesting to see how the new three-tier Covid-19 alert system will impact on this as we move closer into the flu season and the pressures winter will bring on the NHS.

That said it is remarkable how businesses adapt and change in difficult times because they have too. There was a report on the BBC this week stating we have condensed five years of technological change management into the past five months, and we can relate to this at AJ as we have been fast-moving to improve our systems and processes to prepare for the workplace of the future. One thing that is more than certain is that Covid-19 and the changes it has brought to us all is not going away anytime soon.

This report allows you to benchmark your business against the backdrop of the wider economy. We hope you find it useful to help you measure and understand where Social Care as a sector sits against the wider picture.

How can we help?

As a specialist, family-run recruitment business, we support organisations to target issues such as continuity of staffing, reducing spend where you have a high volume of agency usage and supporting those who have specific talent requirements or are in hard to fill locations. We can help with any immediate staffing requirements or longer-term recruitment projects to ultimately save you time and money on agency spend. Click here to see what our clients say about how we have supported them throughout the pandemic.

If you would like us to set up a video call to discuss how we can collaborate, please let us know. Contact us!