The Datum Report

Standing view · business · Renfrewshire

The business base in Renfrewshire has been growing.

improving, held with strong confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.

Business births in Renfrewshire rose in every reading published, from 135 in the first quarter of 2025 to 150 in the second, 145 in the fourth and 180 in the second quarter of 2026. Closures fell to 120 in the second quarter of 2026, below every formation figure. Rising formations running well ahead of falling closures is as consistent as this pair of measures gets. There were five businesses employing between 500 and 999 people in 2025.

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

The 5 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Business births2025-03improving
Business births2025-06improving
Business births2025-12improving
Business births2026-06improving
Business deaths2026-06improving

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 500 to 999 people2025