HUMAN CAPITAL ADVISOR BRIEFING · ISSUE 8 · AUGUST 2026
A monthly briefing for consultants and transformation advisers on what's happening in your clients' sectors, plus the Human Capital Intelligence (culture, workforce and talent) to take into the room. Built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Retail clients head into autumn facing three things at once: contract reform for low-hours staff, a cooling labour market and boards pushing for productivity. This issue reads all three through culture, workforce and talent data. Culture improved in 2025 from a low base, with nine of ten Top 100 retailers moving up; monthly turnover is down at all four UK names we track; and AI skills still reach fewer than 2 in 100 employees. For advisers, that is a window to land reform without losing momentum.
Phil Spratt, CEO & Co-Founder, Deltabase
What happened: The government's consultation on zero- and low-hours workers closes on 25 August, part of an Employment Rights Act timetable that also extends Employment Tribunal time limits from 1 October 2026 and brings unfair dismissal changes from January 2027.
The Deltabase lens: Pay and scheduling sit close to the surface in retail reviews. Next's Pay & Rewards NSS improved from −14.1% to −1.1% between 2024 and 2025, while Marks & Spencer's stayed strongly positive at +43.1%. Deltabase Workforce data shows how much of the model is customer-facing: Sales and Retail Operations roles alone make up 22.7% of Next's workforce.
Client angle: Workforce-model redesign is coming for any client with large flexible-hours populations. Benchmark how staff feel about pay and balance, and where those roles sit in the function mix, before proposing new contract structures.
What happened: ONS estimated 707,000 vacancies in May to July 2026, down 2.7% on the year, with 2.5 unemployed people per vacancy.
The Deltabase lens: Deltabase Employee Turnover data shows the cooling inside UK retail. Next's monthly turnover fell from 1.3% in July 2025 to 0.6% in July 2026, Tesco's from 1.0% to 0.5% and Marks & Spencer's from 1.1% to 0.8%. Tesco's monthly new hires dropped from 2,019 to 1,369 over the same period.
Client angle: A softer market gives clients breathing space on recruitment. Help them use it to fix the experience issues behind attrition rather than bank the reprieve.
What happened: On 21 August, Reuters reported that Airbus had shelved a plan to require white-collar staff in the office four days a week from September, after strikes in Spain and protests in France and Britain.
The Deltabase lens: The retail parallel is head office and store support. Work-Life Balance was still negative at the UK grocers and general retailers we track in 2025: Tesco −3.6%, Sainsbury's −9.6% and Marks & Spencer −24.9%. Deltabase Talent data shows how thin change capability can be: change management skills are held by 3.3% of Tesco's workforce, 1.7% at Marks & Spencer and 1.1% at Sainsbury's.
Client angle: When a client plans an operating-model change, test it against existing sentiment and in-house change skills first; resistance is easier to predict than to reverse.
9 of 10: Retail Top 100 companies whose employee NSS improved in 2025, lifting the sector median from −4.2% to −1.6%. Yet at the four UK names, fewer than 2 in 100 employees list AI skills.
| Company | Culture: NSS 2025 | Workforce: Tech roles | Talent: AI skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesco | +5.1% | 4.8% | 1.8% |
| Sainsbury's | +0.2% | 1.4% | 0.6% |
| Marks & Spencer | −2.5% | 1.7% | 0.9% |
| Next | −11.7% | 3.6% | 1.0% |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2024–2025; Deltabase Workforce data, Tech function as a share of workforce; Deltabase Talent data, share of workforce listing AI skills. Sector median of Walmart, Costco, Target, Home Depot, Kroger, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Next and John Lewis & Partners.
Both improved in 2025, from very different places. Next rose from −20.9% to −11.7% on 964 reviews, with Work-Life Balance recovering from −30.3% to −7.7%. Marks & Spencer moved from −5.9% to −2.5% on 1,386 reviews; Pay & Rewards stayed strong at +43.1%, but Work-Life Balance remained at −24.9%. The workforce and talent data separate them further: Next has more than twice M&S's share of Tech roles (3.6% vs 1.7%), and its staff rate Tech in Workplace positively (+12.8% against −4.0%). Monthly turnover in July 2026 was 0.6% at Next and 0.8% at M&S. At Next, protect a recovery; at M&S, fix balance and digital tools without diluting reward.
Walk into every pitch with the people data already in hand. Advisers use Deltabase to benchmark culture, talent and workforce trends for any client or target in minutes. See how it works →
Sources: Forsters, Employment Rights Act Watch (11 August 2026); ONS, Vacancies and jobs in the UK (18 August 2026); Reuters via CP24 (21 August 2026); Deltabase Culture data; Deltabase Workforce data; Deltabase Talent data; Deltabase Employee Turnover data.