18 March 2021

The Bank of England regularly publish a summary of reports compiled by our twelve regional Agents following discussions with at least 700 businesses across the UK every reporting period.

Overview

This publication summarises intelligence gathered by the Bank’s Agents between mid-January and late February. The Agents’ scores published alongside this document are based on information gathered over the same period but they generally represent activity over the past three months compared with a year ago.

During the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, economic activity fell at an unprecedented pace, reflected in some Agents’ scores moving to the extremes of their range, where scores can be consistent with a wide range of quantitative outcomes.

Although activity has recovered relative to the troughs in early 2020, a number of the Agents’ scores have remained very low. In part, that reflects activity in some areas remaining consistent with the extremes of their distribution, despite the recovery – especially as most scores compare the current situation with a year ago

Written by: Bank of England

Copyright: Bank of England