At the meeting of 18th November, the overall view from ITSA was that 2025 has been a particularly challenging year with the first six months proving especially difficult.
There has been quite a variation of performance depending on markets, with some members enjoying an overall double-digit growth whereas others saw a very flat performance and, in some cases, even a small decline.
The mil/aero market was highlighted as being very sluggish, but recently the enquiry level has picked up, as it has in some other markets such as medical and data centres.
Although, as a sales channel, distribution has performed well, this has been due to specific market dynamics, but hopefully it is a barometer for the coming months.
Test & measurement sales have now been falling for over a year, probably due to the halt in capital investment.
Despite all these challenges, the overall feeling was that the UK connector market would continue to grow in 2026, but with an expectation of only 3-5%.
