The Datum Report

Standing view · business · Rhondda Cynon Taf

New business registrations in Rhondda Cynon Taf have been rising, 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 births in Rhondda Cynon Taf rose to 190 in the first quarter of 2025, fell to 130 in the third, then rose to 165 in the fourth. No figure for closures is published, so the net change in the business base cannot be established. There were 5,475 businesses in the area in 2025, of which 4,115 employed four people or fewer, 315 employed 10 to 19 and 160 employed 20 to 49, across 6,805 sites.

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 Rhondda Cynon Taf. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.

The 3 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Business births2025-03improving
Business births2025-09deteriorating
Business births2025-12improving

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
Businesses2025
Businesses employing 0 to 4 people2025
Businesses employing 10 to 19 people2025
Businesses employing 20 to 49 people2025
Business sites2025