UK services firms raise prices at fastest rate since May amid fuel surge

Growth in the UK’s services industry slowed last month, with firms raising their prices at the fastest pace since May in the face of higher fuel and energy costs, a new survey has shown.

The S&P Global UK services PMI index showed a reading of 52.1 in September, down from 52.5 in August.

Any reading above 50.0 means the sector is growing while any reading below signals it is contracting.

The score came in higher than an earlier estimate of 51.7 and it marked the third month in a row that business activity has increased.

Firms surveyed reported surging fuel prices and increased pay for staff as factors pushing up overall business costs last month.

Efforts to protect their margins led to companies raising the prices they charge customers at the fastest pace since May, the survey found.

September’s survey also marked two years of continuous job cutting across the services industry, albeit at the slowest rate for nearly a year.

Services firms span subsectors including hospitality and leisure, real estate and financial services, healthcare and transport, and is the dominant industry in the UK.

Tim Moore, economics director for S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Surging fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict continued to drive up input cost inflation in September.

“This led to the sharpest increase in prices charged by service sector companies since May and therefore signalled a clear reversal of the slowdown seen in the middle of 2026.”