Companies House recorded 67 new Eastbourne companies in August, down from July's 107. A wine bar, a chicken shop and a barbers are among the plans on paper.

Sixty-seven new companies were registered to Eastbourne addresses in August, Companies House records show. That is just over two a day, and a marked slowdown: the same search returns 107 for July, and 96 for August last year. All 67 were still active on the register when we checked on 5 September.

Among the plans on paper: a coffee and wine bar, a fried chicken company on Seaside, a barbers, a Polish caterer, and eight new property companies.

The figures come from a Companies House advanced search of every company incorporated between 1 and 31 August 2026 with “Eastbourne” in its registered office address, filtered to those actually carrying a BN20, BN21, BN22 or BN23 postcode. How we handled the strays is at the end.

What the 67 say they do

Every new company gives Companies House a SIC code describing its intended trade. Grouping the 67 by the first code each one chose:

New Eastbourne-registered companies by trade, August 2026
SectorCompanies
Retail, wholesale and motor trade10
Construction and trades9
Property and lettings8
Consultancy, marketing and professional8
Finance and holding companies5
Health, care and therapy5
Food, drink and hospitality4
Hair, beauty and personal services4
IT and software3
Education and training2
Arts, sport and leisure2
Utilities and energy2
Transport and logistics1
Other or not classified4
What Eastbourne's new companies say they do 67 companies registered to a BN20 to BN23 postcode, 1 to 31 August 2026 Retail, wholesale, motor Construction and trades Property and lettings Consultancy and marketing Finance and holding Health, care and therapy Food, drink, hospitality Hair, beauty and personal IT and software 10 9 8 8 5 5 4 4 3 Grouped from the first SIC code each company gave. Source: Companies House advanced search, retrieved 5 September 2026. Graphic by Eastbourne Live
Graphic by Eastbourne Live

Retail at the top does not mean ten new shops: most of that group registered as online or mail-order sellers. The construction figure reads more literally, with plumbing, plastering, scaffolding, electrical work and domestic building all represented.

The names to watch

A company registration is a plan on paper, not an opening date, and a registered office is often an accountant’s address rather than the premises. With that said, August’s register carries some recognisably local intentions:

  • Ashton’s Coffee and Wine Bar Ltd, registered 26 August under the SIC code for public houses and bars
  • RFC Eastbourne Chicken Limited, registered 12 August at 129 Seaside as a take-away food shop
  • Afterdark Ltd, registered 18 August at 2a-2b Pevensey Road, also under public houses and bars
  • Evil’s Polish Tasty Bites Ltd, registered 28 August for other food services
  • Sovereign Barbers Ltd, registered 21 August under the code for hairdressing and beauty treatment
  • two community interest companies: Dalston Arts CIC, for artistic creation, and Resonant Minds Therapy CIC, for other human health activities

Each links to a free public record at Companies House, which names the directors and the incorporation date.

Twelve registrations, three addresses

Twelve of the 67 share three addresses, at least two of them accountants’ offices:

  • 62 Cavendish Place took five in the month, including a construction group, a plasterer, a gas and power company and a marketing firm
  • Ivy House, the office of JTP Accountancy and Tax Services, took four, all of them property or holding companies
  • 7-9 The Avenue, the office of chartered accountants Humphrey & Co, took three; more than 1,000 active companies are registered at its postcode

There is nothing irregular in any of this. A registered office is where Companies House and HMRC send post, it does not have to be where the business trades, and using an accountant’s address is the ordinary way a director working from home keeps a home address off a public database.

What it means for you

  • An Eastbourne registration is not an Eastbourne shopfront. The register proves a company exists and names who runs it, nothing more.
  • Checking a trader is free. Search the name at Companies House for directors, filing history and whether accounts are overdue.
  • Every one of these companies is weeks old, so none has filed accounts yet. Worth knowing before paying a large deposit.
  • Businesses that verifiably trade from Eastbourne premises are in our Eastbourne business directory.

Frequently asked questions

How many new companies were registered in Eastbourne in August 2026?

Sixty-seven with a BN20 to BN23 postcode, from 72 raw matches on the Companies House advanced search. July 2026 produced 107 on the same measure, and August 2025 produced 96.

How do I check a new Eastbourne company?

Search the name or company number at Companies House, free. The record shows the incorporation date, the directors, the registered office and every document the company has filed.

How we counted

The advanced search returns 72 companies incorporated in August 2026 with “Eastbourne” anywhere in the registered office address. Five are nowhere near here: one on Eastbourne Street in Oldham, one on Eastbourne Road in Feltham, two on Eastbourne Terrace in Paddington, and one on Eastbourne Road in Pevensey, which is Wealden district. Removing them leaves the 67 with a BN20 to BN23 postcode used throughout this article.

One caveat on the comparisons: the search matches each company’s current address on the current register, so a company that has since moved away or been struck off drops out of its month’s count. For August and July 2026 that effect is small; the 96 for August 2025 will slightly undercount the original number.

Sources