At 54.3 in August, up from 53.5 in July, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Business Activity Index reached its secondhighest level since February. The headline index has posted above the 50.0 no-change mark in each month since August 2016, and the latest reading was slightly above the average seen over this period (54.0). Service providers linked higher activity to resilient business and consumer demand.

Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: "The services sector was a little more upbeat than the other sectors this month maintaining a steady level of activity growth, and the number of new orders ticked higher. "Despite this, optimism was more subdued and lower than the survey average. With the weakest business optimism since March, uncertainty around the UK's decision to leave the EU continued to dampen client operations. Struggles around securing talent and the right skills were also a drag on a sector highly-dependent on trained staff even though job creation rose to its highest levels for half a year".