Confidence across Britain's biggest companies has slumped to its lowest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as ​the Iran war ⁠spurred worries over surging energy prices and higher interest rates, a survey showed ‌on Monday.

The quarterly Deloitte survey of chief financial officers showed net confidence tumbled to -57% in the second half ​of March from -13% at the end of 2025, the lowest reading since the first quarter of 2020.

Companies ​were moving ​swiftly into cost-cutting mode at the expense of hiring, discretionary spending and investment, Deloitte said.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves had previously cited the Deloitte CFO survey as a ⁠gauge of corporate sentiment in Britain.

Business surveys from S&P Global showed growth in the private sector economy slowed to a crawl in March as cost pressures increased rapidly and public inflation expectations have also risen sharply.

Deloitte said 61% of CFOs were "significantly concerned" about rising energy prices ​and inflation ‌leading to higher interest ⁠rates.

Companies' expectations for ⁠inflation in a year's time rose to 3.6%, their highest level since the third quarter of ​2023.

"Rarely in the last 16 years have UK CFOs been ‌more focused on cost control than today," said Ian ⁠Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte UK.

"This challenging environment is prompting CFOs to scale back expectations for margins and sharpen their focus on cost reduction and cash conservation," Stewart added.

Deloitte found a net 79% of CFOs expected a fall in hiring over the next 12 months, up from 55% at the end of last year. It marked the highest share since the second quarter of 2020.

However, a separate survey of recruitment companies from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation showed the labour market, while still weak, did ‌not deteriorate last month despite the uncertainty of the Iran war.

"The ⁠Gulf conflict provided a headwind to hiring in March, but ​this did not stop the trend of stabilisation that has defined 2026 so far," said REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry.

Deloitte's survey of 79 CFOs spanned March 16-30 and included representatives ​from 12 FTSE ‌100 companies and 29 FTSE 250 firms. The remainder comprised large ⁠private firms, other listed companies or ​British subsidiaries of large multinationals. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Alex Richardson)