The Datum Report

Standing view · business · Tees Valley

Businesses employing 0 to 4 people in Tees Valley has been rising.

rising, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026.

Businesses employing 0 to 4 people in Tees Valley has been rising, and the view is held strongly. The band stood at 13,970 in 2026, recorded as rising against the usual pattern for its year, with businesses at 18,240 and business sites at 22,855 in 2026, and businesses employing 50 to 99 people at 210 and business sites at 22,335 in 2025, all rising. Businesses employing 20 to 49 people fell, at 645 in 2026, and there were 1,040 employing 10 to 19 people in 2025 and 1,085 in 2026.

How this was decided

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 Tees Valley. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.

The 6 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Businesses employing 50 to 99 people2025rising
Business sites2025rising
Businesses2026rising
Businesses employing 0 to 4 people2026rising
Businesses employing 20 to 49 people2026falling
Business sites2026rising

Also published on this topic, but not counted

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.

MeasurePeriodSeries
Businesses employing 10 to 19 people2025 —
Businesses employing 10 to 19 people2026 —