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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Phillip Inman

UK service sector confidence higher in May than since before autumn budget

A throng of people sit at tables drinking in West India Quay - Canary Wharf - London on a hot sunny day
Services companies have been unaffected directly by Trump’s tariffs, but had suffered from the dampened effect on global consumer and business confidence. Photograph: Robert Stainforth/Alamy

Bosses in the UK’s services sector were more optimistic last month than they had been since before Rachel Reeves’ debut budget, according to new data, as they began to see beyond the uncertainty sparked by Donald Trump’s tariff war.

A survey of business leaders showed many were looking forward to improved sales and investment over the next six months, despite an increase in US import tariffs to their highest level since the 1930s.

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