Standing view · business · Chichester
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
The business base in Chichester has been shrinking. There were 5,440 businesses employing 0 to 4 people in 2026 and 7,770 business sites. Registrations have been unsteady: business births were 180 in the quarter to June 2025 and favourable against the usual pattern for its quarter, 125 in the quarter to September 2025 and unfavourable, 155 in the quarter to December 2025 and favourable, then 130 in the quarter to March 2026 and unfavourable. Business deaths were 180 in the quarter to June 2025, unfavourable, and 125 in the quarter to September 2025, favourable.
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 Chichester. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-06 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2025-09 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-09 | improving |
| Business births | 2025-12 | improving |
| Business births | 2026-03 | 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 employing 0 to 4 people | 2026 | — |
| Business sites | 2026 | — |