Standing view · business · Worthing
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
The business base in Worthing has been shrinking. Business births were 100 in the quarter to June 2025 and 85 in the quarter to March 2026, and business deaths 130 in the quarter to June 2025, each recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for its quarter, while business deaths of 90 in the quarter to June 2026 was favourable. In 2026 there were 3,120 businesses employing 0 to 4 people, 440 employing 5 to 9 people, and 4,715 business sites. Three unfavourable quarters against one.
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 Worthing. 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 | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2026-06 | improving |
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 0 to 4 people | 2026 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2026 | — |
| Business sites | 2026 | — |