Industry statistics
AI voice agent and customer service statistics for UK businesses
The figures that matter when you decide whether to put AI on your phones: how many businesses there are, how fast they are adopting AI, how customers want to get in touch and what service really costs. Every number links to its source.
Figures last checked
At a glance
Six numbers to know
The headline figures from each topic below, with the type of evidence behind each one.
- UK private sector businesses at the start of 2025, up 3.5% on the year before
- 5.7m
- Official statisticsSource: Department for Business and Trade, 2 October 2025
- of UK businesses used at least one AI technology in September 2026, up from 9% in September 2023
- 30%
- Official statisticsSource: Office for National Statistics, 8 October 2026
- of UK adults would phone to book an appointment, against 28% who would use an online form
- 49%
- SurveySource: Whistl, 2026 update
- of customers would prefer companies did not use AI for service. Their top worry is not reaching a person
- 64%
- SurveySource: Gartner, 9 July 2024
- a month: the estimated cost to UK organisations of staff time spent dealing with service failures
- £7.3bn
- SurveySource: The Institute of Customer Service, January 2025
- forecast global voice agents market by 2032, up from about $2.3bn in 2025
- $27.5bn
- Market reportSource: MarketsandMarkets, 2026 edition
01
UK businesses
Almost every UK business is small, and most have no staff to answer the phone when the owner is busy.
- UK private sector businesses at the start of 2025, up 3.5% on the year before
- 5.7m
- Official statisticsSource: Department for Business and Trade, 2 October 2025
- of UK businesses are small or medium-sized, with fewer than 250 employees
- 99.85%
- Official statisticsSource: Department for Business and Trade, 2 October 2025
- UK businesses employ staff. The other three in four are run by their owners alone
- 1.4m
- Official statisticsSource: Department for Business and Trade, 2 October 2025
02
AI adoption in the UK
Use of AI has more than tripled since 2023, and administrative work is where firms feel it most.
- of UK businesses used at least one AI technology in September 2026, up from 9% in September 2023
- 30%
- Official statisticsSource: Office for National Statistics, 8 October 2026
- of UK businesses with 250 or more employees use AI, against 29% of those with fewer than 10
- 51%
- Official statisticsSource: Office for National Statistics, 8 October 2026
- of AI-using firms with 10 or more staff say administrative and clerical roles are the most affected
- 38%
- Official statisticsSource: Office for National Statistics, 8 October 2026
- of customer service leaders planned to explore or pilot customer-facing conversational AI in 2025
- 85%
- SurveySource: Gartner, 9 December 2024
03
What customers expect
People still pick up the phone to book and to complain, and they want to reach a person when they need one.
- of UK adults would phone to book an appointment, against 28% who would use an online form
- 49%
- SurveySource: Whistl, 2026 update
- of UK adults choose the phone to make a complaint, nearly twice as many as choose email
- 45%
- SurveySource: Whistl, 2026 update
- of UK customer experiences were right first time, the highest the index has recorded
- 83.2%
- SurveySource: The Institute of Customer Service, January 2026
- of UK customers prefer excellent service even if it costs more, up 4.3 points in a year
- 35.6%
- SurveySource: The Institute of Customer Service, January 2026
- of customers would prefer companies did not use AI for service. Their top worry is not reaching a person
- 64%
- SurveySource: Gartner, 9 July 2024
04
The cost of service
Labour dominates service costs, and service failures drain staff time across the UK economy.
- a month: the estimated cost to UK organisations of staff time spent dealing with service failures
- £7.3bn
- SurveySource: The Institute of Customer Service, January 2025
- of contact centre costs are labour, across an estimated 17 million agents worldwide
- Up to 95%
- Analyst estimateSource: Gartner, 31 August 2022
- of a human agent’s interaction time could be saved just by AI capturing the caller’s name and reason for calling
- A third
- Analyst estimateSource: Gartner, 31 August 2022
- of current customer care costs: the productivity value generative AI could add to the function
- 30–45%
- ResearchSource: McKinsey & Company, 14 June 2023
- more issues resolved per hour when 5,000 service agents at one company were given generative AI help
- 14%
- ResearchSource: McKinsey & Company, 14 June 2023
05
The AI voice agent market
Analysts expect voice agents to grow quickly from a small base as contact centres automate.
- of common customer service issues will be resolved by agentic AI without a person by 2029, cutting operating costs by 30%
- 80%
- Analyst forecastSource: Gartner, 5 March 2025
- forecast global voice agents market by 2032, up from about $2.3bn in 2025
- $27.5bn
- Market reportSource: MarketsandMarkets, 2026 edition
- forecast annual growth of the voice agents market from 2026 to 2032
- 42%
- Market reportSource: MarketsandMarkets, 2026 edition
Method
How we choose and check figures
Statistics are only useful if you can trust them. These are the rules this page follows.
Primary sources only
Every figure links to the publisher’s own page: government statistics, the original survey or the analyst’s press release. We do not repeat numbers from blogs or round-ups.
Dated and labelled
Each figure shows the date its source states and the type of evidence, so official statistics, surveys, forecasts and paid market reports are never mixed up.
Forecasts are not facts
Analyst forecasts and market sizes depend on each firm’s definitions. Use them for direction. The ONS figures are official statistics in development, so the ONS advises caution.
Reviewed twice a year
We check every figure against its source when the ONS, the Institute of Customer Service and the analysts publish new editions, and remove anything superseded.
Sources
Every source on this page
Citing this page
You are welcome to use these figures. Please cite the original source, and link to this page if it helped:
MajorisMinds (2026). AI voice agent and customer service statistics for UK businesses. majorisminds.com/ai-voice-agent-statistics
Department for Business and Trade · 2 October 2025
Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2025Office for National Statistics · 8 October 2026
Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 8 October 2026Gartner · 9 December 2024
Gartner survey reveals 85% of customer service leaders will explore or pilot customer-facing conversational GenAI in 2025Whistl · 2026 update
What do customers want from a contact centre? (survey of 1,000 UK adults)The Institute of Customer Service · January 2026
UKCSI: the state of customer satisfaction in the UK, January 2026Gartner · 9 July 2024
Gartner survey finds 64% of customers would prefer that companies didn’t use AI for customer serviceThe Institute of Customer Service · January 2025
UKCSI: the state of customer satisfaction in the UK, January 2025Gartner · 31 August 2022
Gartner predicts conversational AI will reduce contact center agent labor costs by $80 billion in 2026McKinsey & Company · 14 June 2023
The economic potential of generative AI: the next productivity frontierGartner · 5 March 2025
Gartner predicts agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029MarketsandMarkets · 2026 edition
Voice agents market: global forecast to 2032
FAQ
Quick answers
The questions people most often search for, answered from the sources above.
What percentage of UK businesses use AI?
According to the Office for National Statistics, 30% of UK businesses used at least one AI technology in September 2026, up from 9% when the question was first asked in September 2023. Use rises with size: 51% of businesses with 250 or more employees use AI, against 29% of those with fewer than 10.
How many businesses are there in the UK?
There were 5.7 million private sector businesses in the UK at the start of 2025, according to the Department for Business and Trade. 99.85% are small or medium-sized, and about 1.4 million employ staff. The rest are run by their owners alone.
Do UK customers still prefer to phone businesses?
For bookings and problems, yes. In Whistl’s survey of 1,000 UK adults, 49% said they would phone to book an appointment against 28% who would use an online form, and 45% chose the phone to make a complaint. People mostly prefer to go online to place an order.
Do customers trust AI customer service?
Many are wary. In a Gartner survey of 5,728 customers, 64% said they would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service, and their top concern was that AI would make it harder to reach a person. The lesson for businesses is to say when callers are talking to AI, answer well and make it easy to reach your team.
How big is the AI voice agent market?
MarketsandMarkets estimates the global voice agents market at about $2.3 billion in 2025 and forecasts $27.5 billion by 2032, growth of around 42% a year. Other firms publish different figures because they define the market differently, so treat any single number as an estimate.
How much does poor customer service cost UK businesses?
The Institute of Customer Service estimated in January 2025 that service problems and failures cost UK organisations £7.3 billion a month in staff time, equivalent to about four working days a month for each employee affected.
Where to next
- For managersBuild the business caseA cost model, the KPIs to track and a 90-day rollout plan you can take to your board.Continue
- GuideThe real cost of missed callsHow to put a number on the calls your business misses today.Continue
- CompanyRead the investor overviewThe market, our business model and how to contact the founders.Continue
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