Standing view · business · Greenwich
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Business births in Greenwich reached 515 in the first quarter of 2025, then fell to 375 in the fourth. Closures rose to 390 in the first quarter of 2025 and 415 in the second, above the most recent formation figure. Formations falling while closures rise, with closures now the larger of the two, points one way on both measures. There were 170 businesses employing between 20 and 49 people in the borough in 2025 and five employing between 500 and 999.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Greenwich. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-03 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2025-03 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses employing 20 to 49 people | 2025 | — |
| Businesses employing 500 to 999 people | 2025 | — |