Standing view · business · Crawley
deteriorating, held with strong confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Business births in Crawley fell to 100 in the second quarter of 2025, rose to 130 in the first quarter of 2026, then fell to 110 in the second. Closures fell to 90 in the third quarter of 2025 and 75 in the fourth, then rose to 110 in the second quarter of 2026, level with formations. Both measures have turned unfavourable in the most recent quarter after a better spell, which is why the reading is negative despite the improvement in between. The borough held 4,610 business sites in 2025.
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 Crawley. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-09 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2025-12 | improving |
| Business births | 2026-03 | improving |
| Business births | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2026-06 | 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 5 to 9 people | 2025 | — |
| Business sites | 2025 | — |