92
For the second year running, the Chamber of Commerce invited local businesses to take part in the Business Sentiment Survey. This research is designed to give us a quantitative understanding of business confidence in Dartmouth, with the data being extremely useful in our planning and advocacy on behalf of businesses.
This year we saw an increase in response rate and our thanks go to the 42 businesses who took the time to complete the survey. The increase in the number of responses means that we were able to take a more detailed look at the results, giving a clearer sense of how well our local economy performed in 2025.
to be the core concern for 2026 with business rates the latest issue impacting on costs. Whilst businesses are still mindful of issues like the cost of parking, customer spending and footfall going into 2026, the fact is the cost of doing business overshadows all other factors at the moment.
“despite a tough year for the
business sector across the UK, Dartmouth has held up well enough.”
Overall the business performance in Dartmouth was slightly better than 2024, which should be considered good news given the external factors impacting on UK Tourism in 2025. For a lot of businesses turnover increased in 2025, although footfall was a more mixed picture, highlighting the continuing challenges the staycation market faces from international competition. Within the data, however, it was clear that visitor facing and hospitality businesses recorded weaker results across the board, whereas the retail sector came back well from a tough 2024.
The increased cost of doing business was by far the biggest challenge in 2025, and this continues
Business Performance in 2025 Average performance
Where 1=much worse than previous year / 5=much better 2024 2025
3.5 3.7 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.9 3.6 3.1 2.8 3.3 3.8 3.9
Despite this business confidence is holding up overall and Dartmouth is still considered a good place to do business. The hospitality sector is the least optimistic, but even here most businesses would recommend Dartmouth as a good place to do business.
In conclusion, despite a tough year for the business sector across the UK, Dartmouth has held up well enough. The Chamber of Commerce will continue to advocate for businesses, to make sure the business voice is heard. We will also look at the initiatives that improve connections and
collaboration in Dartmouth, as together we will be more resilient.
Dartmouth has an enormous amount to offer visitors, not least the products and experiences provided by our brilliant businesses. By working together, and building confidence, Dartmouth can be the thriving commercial centre it deserves to be.
The full survey results are available on the Chamber website:
www.dartmouthchamber.co.uk
All
Visitor facing
Non visitor
Hospitality
Retail
Other
dartmouthchamber.co.uk
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