2026 Global Service Dynamics Report: UK Supplement

Solve the UK's profit paradox

UK services firms report the highest margins of the five markets studied, yet trail the US by 7.5 points on net revenue retention. See where the next gain is hiding.

Capitalize on market-leading 24% delivery margins while resolving the 7.5-point net revenue retention lag behind US peers.
Safeguard profitability before work begins as 69% of UK firms lean further into fixed-fee models.
Connect siloed workflows to move the 23% of internal AI agent initiatives stalled in testing into production.

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UK Research Findings

5 UK findings to help you grow the accounts you already have

Sapio Research surveyed services and IT leaders across five markets. Here's what the UK data shows about margin, retention and AI.

See why UK firms report the highest services margin of any market surveyed.

Understand why UK net revenue retention trails the US by 7.5 points.

Learn why retention accountability sits lower in UK organisations than in the US.

Discover how fixed-fee pricing shapes where UK leaders focus their attention.

Find out why nearly 1 in 4 UK firms have piloted AI agents without deploying them.

Promotional banner for the "2026 Global Service Dynamics Report | UK Supplement" by Certinia. The main title reads "The UK's Profit Paradox," with the subtitle "Study reveals UK services firms have built the most profitable delivery engines. The next gain is hiding in the customers they already have." Key statistics shown: * 24% estimated mean UK professional services margin, the highest of five countries. * 72% estimated mean UK net revenue retention, 7.5 points behind the US. * 52% UK deployment of AI agents in client-facing delivery, against 68% in the US.

The pace at which we saw results from Certinia FM Cloud has changed the way we run our business and improved performance significantly. It has enabled us to focus further on business growth as well as cope with shifts in our business model so we can adapt quickly in the new services economy.

— Stephen Horrocks, CFO, Methods

See the global picture

The full 2026 Global Service Dynamics Report covers all 1,000 respondents across five markets. It looks more closely at how connected operations relate to AI results, margin and retention.

Read the Full Report