As 2026 gets underway, it remains a challenging time for many consumers and businesses – so it is reassuring and positive news that customer satisfaction as tracked in our UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) has moved decisively up to reach a score of 78.2 (out of 100), the highest level since July 2022.
Satisfaction on an upward curve
This is the third six-month period in a row of improvement, after customer satisfaction levels fell successively to reach a low point of 75.8 in July 2024. It is to organisations’ credit that they have turned this decline around and are now steadily working satisfaction levels back up.
Across all of the five dimensions that we analyse in the UKCSI – experience, complaint handling, customer ethos, emotional connection and ethics – there has been a rise of two points or more compared to January 2025. All of the 13 sectors that we benchmark have seen an improvement from a year ago, with two of them – Banks & Building Societies (81.6) and Tourism (81.3) – recording their highest ever scores.
The key drivers of the satisfaction boost were getting customer experiences right first time (83.2%, another record high) and a four-point rise in customers feeling that the organisations they dealt with understood and responded to their personal needs and situation. There are also signs that customers truly recognise the value and importance of excellent service, with more of them than ever before (36%) saying they are prepared to pay a little more for a better customer experience.
Difference in the detail
All of this is highly encouraging. However, as always when we look below the surface the picture is quite diverse, with a number of leading organisations excelling and pushing scores up while other businesses continue to fall behind: we still need to see service excellence being driven more widely across the piece. Only then will satisfaction levels reach their full potential – and achieve that virtuous circle of increased organisational profitability and productivity as demand for products and services grows from satisfied – and therefore more loyal and engaged – customers.
If there is variation between organisations, we find the same amongst customers. Indeed this time around we have a clearer view into this than ever before because, in the spirit of continuous improvement, we introduced some new questions into the UKCSI that will enable us to better track customers’ evolving attitudes, needs and behaviours.
Customer polarisation is a concern
The results are very interesting on a number of levels. Firstly, we see that customers are more confident about their own financial outlooks than that of the UK economy as a whole: 43% believe that their personal finances will be better in 12 months’ time, but only 31% think the same of the UK economy. Given the importance of confidence and the clear correlation to customer satisfaction, organisations need to consider how they can encourage and support confidence further in 2026. The external environment remains very volatile and confidence can be a fragile thing. Staying close to customers, understanding and anticipating their needs, using technology to improve processes whilst maintaining the human touch, and resolving problems as swiftly and empathetically as possible will all be key to this.
My view is that many consumers continue to take a cautious approach – in a high cost of living environment, they are being careful with their money. However, they are prepared to spend in targeted purchases with organisations they trust and have had good experiences with in the past. It will be the ‘service brands’ that win out in 2026.
At the same time, another striking finding from our deeper customer insight research is the degree of polarisation in the UK. Around 15% of customers say that their financial health is poor or very poor – and these more vulnerable customers are much less positive across the board. Only 19% of them expect their personal finances to be better in 12 months’ time and they also report less satisfactory experiences with brands. Equally, only 57% of them feel that the organisations they have dealt with recognise their personal situation and needs compared to 72% of customers with good financial health, and only 58% of them feel cared about as a customer compared to 77% of more affluent consumers.
These findings are a concern because one of the key elements of being a Service Nation is to have a fairer society where all customers feel equally valued and recognised. However, the signs are that organisations need to work even harder at considering the needs and experience journeys of all their customers – otherwise we could see increasing disenfranchisement and wasted potential.
Inspiring excellence in 2026
As ever, my warm congratulations to the best performing businesses in the UKCSI, topped this time by first direct and followed by John Lewis with a new entrant, Hays Travel, in third. These and all the top performers create an inspiring example to us all.
I hope that the uplift in customer satisfaction reported in the January 2026 UKCSI can be a positive indicator of what’s to come; that, despite the unpredictable external conditions in these uncertain times, organisations will continue to focus on delivering excellent customer experiences, again and again, and that this can be a catalyst for greater UK economic prosperity and growth.
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