The Datum Report

Standing view · business · Calderdale

Business closures in Calderdale have been falling, though other measures here have run the other way.

mixed, held with tentative confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.

Business deaths in Calderdale fell from 220 in the second quarter of 2025 to 215 in the third and 185 in the fourth, then rose sharply to 290 in the first quarter of 2026. Business births fell to 195 in the first quarter of 2026 and 190 in the second, below closures in the quarter where both are published. Three quarters of easing closures have been undone, and formations are falling at the same time. Other personal service activities employed 2,000 people in 2024.

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

The 6 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Business deaths2025-06improving
Business deaths2025-09improving
Business deaths2025-12improving
Business births2026-03deteriorating
Business deaths2026-03deteriorating
Business births2026-06deteriorating

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
96 : Other personal service activities2024