Standing view · business · Mid Sussex
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
The business base in Mid Sussex has been shrinking, and closures are the reason. Business deaths were 190 in the quarter to March 2026 and 210 in the quarter to June 2026, both recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for their quarter, while 130 in the quarter to December 2025 was favourable. Business births were 140 in the quarter to December 2025 and unfavourable, then 200 in the quarter to March 2026 and favourable. In 2026 there were 7,350 businesses, 5,845 of them employing 0 to 4 people, and 8,340 business sites.
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 Mid Sussex. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-12 | improving |
| Business births | 2026-03 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2026-03 | 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 | 2026 | — |
| Businesses employing 0 to 4 people | 2026 | — |
| Business sites | 2026 | — |