Standing view · business · Surrey, East and West Sussex
rising, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026.
Businesses employing 50 to 99 people in Surrey, East and West Sussex has been rising. The band stood at 1,265 in 2025 and 1,305 in 2026, recorded as rising in both years against the usual pattern, with businesses employing 1000+ or more people at 145 in 2025 also rising, while businesses employing 500 to 999 people fell at 140. There were 135,610 businesses and 13,785 employing 5 to 9 people in 2025, and business sites at 155,085 in 2024 and 154,445 in 2025. Three rising readings against one falling.
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 Surrey, East and West Sussex. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses employing 1000+ or more people | 2025 | rising |
| Businesses employing 50 to 99 people | 2025 | rising |
| Businesses employing 500 to 999 people | 2025 | falling |
| Businesses employing 50 to 99 people | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Business sites | 2024 | — |
| Businesses | 2025 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2025 | — |
| Business sites | 2025 | — |