The Iran war has seen global mid-market business optimism fall sharply: in Q1 2026 just 68% of business leaders had optimistic expectation on the global outlook of their country, a marked six points fall from the previous quarter. This is the main takeaway on Q1 2026 from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a quarterly survey on over 4,000 business leaders of mid-market businesses globally.
91.4% of Italian managers in SMEs declare to consider a company’s gender equality initiatives when applying for a new role, as resulting from the Grant Thornton 2026 Women in Business report, a global survey which has been analysing the progresses of women’s presence in C-suite roles within mid-market businesses for more than 20 years.
According to the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), in Q4 2025 optimism about an economic recovery is down 2 percentage points among mid-market businesses globally, whereas it remains stable in the EU and is up 1 point in Italy at 61%.
Sante Maiolica, partner and CEO of GTFAS, contributed to the Advisor Private Golden Book
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