Research from O2 Business finds that rising technology and operational demands are undermining confidence in long-term growthIn a recent study conducted by O2 Business, the newly rebranded business division of UK mobile operator O2, it was revealed that the UK’s technology decisions are becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. This complexity is having a tangible impact on businesses, leading to reduced confidence in long-term growth, increased costs, and slower progress. The research, carried out by Censuswide, collected data from 502 UK business leaders between 22 and 23 April 2026, painting a vivid picture of the challenges facing today’s leaders.
The data suggests that over three-quarters of business leaders have experienced increased personal pressure over the past two years. This pressure stems from the need to balance cost pressures, growth ambitions, and the adoption of new technologies. The survey also highlighted a growing confidence gap across the UK, with smaller businesses expressing significantly less confidence in their growth prospects than larger firms.
Specifically, just over two-thirds of small office/home office (SOHO) businesses expressed confidence in their long-term growth, compared to over 90% of mid-sized and larger organisations. This points to a widening divide across the business landscape, with technology playing a central role. When technology is easier to manage, businesses can regain time, focus, and confidence, which are all crucial for real growth.
While the research showed that most organisations remain confident overall, it also found that complexity was beginning to erode that confidence. Some 16% of business leaders said that they were not confident in their organisation’s long-term growth prospects, highlighting an underlying fragility beneath the headline figures.
The findings pointed to what O2 Business called a growing “complexity trap” for UK businesses, with technology at the heart of the challenge. Two-thirds of leaders surveyed said technology decisions were becoming increasingly complex, and almost half believed their tech setup was more complex than it needed to be.
This rising complexity was found to be already having a tangible impact on performance, with increasing operational costs, pressure on leadership time and focus, and slowing business growth cited as the top impact of technology challenges in the past 12 months.
Leaders were seeing a clear way forward by simplifying technology and operations to cut spend, boost productivity and unlock growth, as a third (33%) faced rising costs.
O2 Business CEO Jo Bertram commented on the survey findings, observing that most businesses don’t feel short of technology – they feel weighed down by it. “Too many systems, too many suppliers and too much time spent trying to make everything work together … we think it should be simpler than that,” she said.
In conclusion, the study highlights the need for businesses to simplify their technology and operations in order to reduce costs, increase productivity, and unlock growth. The complexity of technology decisions is a growing challenge for UK businesses, but by addressing this issue, they can regain confidence and set themselves on a path to long-term growth.
