If there’s one thing working with businesses across the East of England has taught me, it’s that growth doesn’t happen by accident. As we head into 2026, that’s becoming more apparent than ever.
EY forecasts put regional growth at around 1.7% a year from 2025 to 2028. It’s steady rather than spectacular, but in a climate shaped by inflation, rising costs and changing customer expectations, steady is still meaningful. What it isn’t, however, is guaranteed.
A forecast is only ever a backdrop; the real outcomes depend on the decisions businesses make now.
In a region like ours, where opportunity and pressure sit side by side, standing still is beginning to look like the higher risk.
Stability isn’t the same as security
The headline figures imply stability, yet the reality within most businesses is far more pressured.
East Anglia is dealing with quieter challenges than the rest of the UK, but they’re no less persistent: a tightening labour market in logistics, tech and manufacturing; infrastructure that struggles under demand; growing compliance requirements; and customers who now expect fast, digital, joined-up experiences as standard.
These issues aren’t catastrophic, but they do slow businesses down. They create the sense of being busy, that familiar feeling of constant firefighting, without really progressing. The economy may look stable, but the margin for error has definitely narrowed.
To move forward, businesses need more than optimism. They need a clear destination for where they are going, and internal alignment to get there.
Why strategy matters going into 2026
East Anglia’s strength lies in its variety: Cambridge’s world-class tech and life sciences ecosystem, Norfolk’s manufacturing heritage, Suffolk’s broad SME base, and the rapid growth of warehousing and logistics across the region. The needs may differ, but almost every sector is feeling the same pressure on value.
In this environment, inefficiency is expensive. Slow follow-up on sales leads, for instance, costs revenue. Disconnected teams create inconsistent customer experiences.
Marketing that stops and starts fails to cut through the volume of marketing material out there to make a real, tangible difference. Strategy matters because it forces businesses to decide what’s important, and what isn’t.
Despite the challenges, this is still a region with real momentum, and significant growth potential. Cambridge continues to attract investment, the A14 corridor is expanding and local manufacturing and agritech are modernising quickly. The foundations for growth are there, but firms need to be intentional about how they chase them.
Moving from reaction to strategy
If there’s one shift that will make the biggest difference in 2026, it’s moving away from reacting to whatever’s happening around you and strategically forging your own path.
Too many businesses still rely on bursts of activity or one-off campaigns and hope to catch a moment of success. That isn’t sustainable.
A strategic approach is calmer and clearer. It focuses on building a pipeline rather than chasing spikes or investing in flurries of activity.
It aligns marketing, sales and operations around the same goals, with shared (not competitive) outcomes.
It treats data as something that informs decisions, not something to review at the end of the quarter. Above all, it creates consistency: the thing that separates businesses that grow from those that drift along on the economic current.
When companies make this shift, the conversation changes. It stops being about firefighting and starts being about building something solid that can withstand uncertainty.
What a strategic 2026 actually looks like
A strategic year starts with clarity. Everyone knows the plan, why it matters, and what success should look like by the end of it. Growth sources are identified early, with a clear route to turn opportunity into revenue.
Investment is directed where it reduces cost, improves efficiency and strengthens resilience. Importantly, every team is aligned on your value, your ideal customer and the outcomes you’re aiming for.
This isn’t about perfection or big gestures; it’s about intent. Businesses that wait for the market to feel “right” tend to stay still, and stasis. Those that choose the direction they want to take, and begin laying the groundwork now, are the ones that move ahead, even when conditions in general are slower.
A modest forecast, but a meaningful opportunity
A 1.7% growth projection won’t transform the region on its own. But it does provide a steady platform for ambitious businesses. For those willing to approach 2026 with focus, discipline and a clear plan, next year offers real potential to get ahead.
Those waiting for absolute certainty may be waiting a long time. But those who plan, align and commit to a strategy are far more likely to find that even in a cautious economy, progress is entirely achievable.
It’s one of the biggest differences we see between clients that use the nx3 framework focus on strategic growth, connecting marketing to sales and creating an ongoing dialogue between the two, and their competitors who choose to do sporadic marketing without direction.
