Standing view · business · East Lothian and Midlothian
rising, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026.
Businesses in East Lothian and Midlothian has been rising, and the view is held strongly. Businesses stood at 5,935 in 2026, businesses employing 0 to 4 people at 4,430, businesses employing 100 to 249 people at 35 and business sites at 7,040, all recorded as rising against the usual pattern for their year, with business sites of 6,860 in 2024 also rising. Businesses employing 20 to 49 people fell, at 205 in 2025, and businesses employing 10 to 19 people numbered 410 in 2024 and 785 employing 5 to 9 people in 2026. Growth concentrated in the smallest band is the shape of it.
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 East Lothian and Midlothian. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business sites | 2024 | rising |
| Businesses employing 20 to 49 people | 2025 | falling |
| Businesses | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 0 to 4 people | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 100 to 249 people | 2026 | rising |
| Business sites | 2026 | rising |
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 10 to 19 people | 2024 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2026 | — |