Government · UK · Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
78% of UK Businesses Now Have a Website: DSIT 2026
The government's UK Business Data Survey 2026, based on 4,450 firms, finds 78% of UK businesses now run a website and 41% of data-handling businesses use AI. Adoption is rising, but formal AI governance is lagging behind.
Source published Summarised
Read the full report from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Key findings at a glance
- 78% of UK businesses said they have a website in 2025 to 2026
- 68% had a website two years earlier in 2023 to 2024, a 10-point rise
- 24% have their website managed entirely by an external web developer or platform
- 29% run their website on a mix of in-house and external support
- 84% of micro businesses said they have a website in 2025 to 2026
- 41% of businesses that handle digitised data use AI for at least one purpose
- 82% of large businesses use AI, the highest of any size band
- 60% of London businesses use AI, the highest of any UK region
- 36% of East of England businesses use AI, the lowest UK region
- 17% of AI-using businesses have no AI policy in place
- 73% feel uncomfortable with their business data being used to train external AI models
- 86% of UK businesses handle digitised data of any type
What the report covers
The UK Business Data Survey 2026 is the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's fourth annual study of how UK businesses collect, use, share and protect data. Fieldwork was carried out by Ipsos between October 2025 and January 2026, covering 4,450 businesses across every size band, sector and region of the UK.
The headline for anyone selling digital services is website ownership. In 2025 to 2026, 78% of UK businesses said they have a website, up from 68% two years earlier. The rise was driven largely by the smallest firms: 84% of micro businesses and 76% of sole traders now report having a website, narrowing the gap with the near-universal coverage among large (99%) and medium (97%) businesses. The survey also asked how those websites are run, splitting firms between fully in-house, fully outsourced and mixed models.
On artificial intelligence, the picture is one of established but uneven adoption. Among businesses that handle digitised data, 41% use AI for at least one purpose, rising to 82% of large firms and 60% of businesses in London. Governance has not kept pace: 17% of AI-using businesses have no policy in place, and most firms stay cautious, with 73% uncomfortable about their own data being used to train external AI models. The findings sit alongside our earlier report on the UK digital and technology sector.
What this means for UK marketers
Two numbers in this survey should shape how UK agencies talk to small businesses. The first is that website ownership has jumped 10 points in two years, almost entirely on the back of micro businesses and sole traders coming online. The long tail of UK firms that used to get by on a social profile or a directory listing is now buying or building actual websites. That is a growing, under-served market, and it values plain guidance over jargon.
The second is how those sites are managed. Only 24% of businesses outsource their website entirely to an external developer or platform, while 27% keep it fully in-house and 29% run a mix of internal and external support. For an agency, the mixed-model group is the real opportunity. These are firms that already do some of the work themselves but want a partner for the parts they cannot, which is exactly where retained web design and maintenance support fits. Pitching a full rebuild to a business that only wants help with two pages will lose the deal. Offering to slot in alongside what they already run will win it.
On AI, the gap between adoption and governance is the commercial signal. With 41% of data-handling firms using AI but 17% of those running it with no policy at all, there is clear demand for help applying AI safely to marketing and data work. London's 60% adoption rate also confirms where the early budget sits. Agencies that pair data-driven digital marketing with a sober view of governance and consent will be better placed than those selling AI as a novelty. The caution is real: nearly three-quarters of businesses are uneasy about their data training external models, so being transparent about how your tools handle client data is now part of the sale.
How they got the data
The UK Business Data Survey 2026 is an official statistics publication produced to the Code of Practice for Statistics. Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos between October 2025 and January 2026, with 4,450 UK businesses interviewed by telephone or online. Responses were weighted by business size and sector to represent the UK business population, and results are broken down by size, sector and ITL 1 region in the accompanying data tables.
Because the sample represents a fraction of all UK businesses, the figures are estimates, and the report only highlights differences between groups where they are statistically significant at the 5% level. Comparisons with the 2020 to 2021 survey should be treated with some caution, as that wave used telephone interviews only. Awareness of regulatory expectations was mixed, with fewer than half of firms finding the ICO's guidance for organisations clear and easy to understand.
Government · UK
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From Department for Science, Innovation and Technology · published 18/06/2026