Open consultation

Consultation on the National Survey of Registered Businesses (NSRB)

Summary

The government is seeking views on the proposed changes to the DBT National Survey of Registered Businesses’ exporting behaviours, attitudes and needs.

This consultation is being held on another website.

This consultation closes at

Consultation description

The Department of Business and Trade (DBT)’s National Survey of Registered Businesses (NSRB) exporting behaviours, attitudes and needs is a widely-used source of evidence to the department and wider stakeholders. The survey provides insights into business attitudes towards trade, exporting and use of support services.

However, since DBT formed in 2023, the survey has not been adapted to the expanding priorities of the new department. The current NSRB focuses on segmenting businesses in relation to:

  • trade activity
  • exporting behaviours
  • perceived barriers
  • business capability
  • evaluations of marketing campaigns 

These topic areas, while critical to the department, are not representative of the full scope of DBT’s strategic priority areas. 

Therefore, DBT is seeking views from relevant stakeholders and users on the proposed changes to the DBT NSRB Official Statistics publication. We are also interested in learning more about those who use the statistics. This consultation is open to all.

As well as reviewing the survey content (topic areas and questions), DBT will consider the frequency of the survey and the outputs produced. We want to ensure survey outputs:

  • provide good quality evidence
  • are insightful and engaging for users
  • deliver value for money

The changes under consideration are outlined in more detail in the consultation document.

To inform this review we would like to understand:

  • how the statistics are currently used
  • their value to users
  • the impact of any proposed changes

Therefore, we ask respondents to complete the consultation questionnaire or email your responses to NSRB.Consultation@businessandtrade.gov.uk. This is in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Documents

Updates to this page

Published 14 November 2025

Sign up for emails or print this page