Fareham and Gosport: business by the harbour, in figures

Between Southampton and Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport share Portsmouth Harbour's western shore. In business terms they are very different places. Fareham has more than twice as many businesses as Gosport and a jobs density in line with the South East; Gosport has far fewer jobs than residents and a council strategy built around its marine and defence firms. This piece sets out what the figures say, what is being built, and where the two towns' business people meet.

Two towns, two sizes

In the UK Business Counts for March 2026, Nomis counted:

• Fareham: 4,380 enterprises, 3,835 of them micro (87.6%), with 20 employing 250 or more
• Gosport: 1,860 enterprises, 1,675 of them micro (90.1%), with 5 employing 250 or more

The difference shows most in jobs. In 2024 Fareham had 57,000 jobs and a jobs density of 0.85, the same as the South East. Gosport had 23,000 jobs and a jobs density of 0.45, meaning less than one job in the borough for every two residents of working age. So many working residents must work outside the borough, and, as below, Gosport's council says local growth has been held back by a shortage of commercial premises.

New businesses keep coming in both. The ONS's 2024 business demography tables show 450 business births in Fareham and 220 in Gosport in 2024, against 385 and 195 closures.

Daedalus and the Innovation Centre

Daedalus, the airfield at Lee-on-the-Solent, has outline planning permission for over 50,000m2 of commercial development, and Fareham Borough Council says it has spent over £30 million on the site since 2015. The council says it forms part of the Solent Enterprise Zone, with "up to 50,000m2 available for commercial development" on plots that "range from one to six acres".

The biggest recent arrival is Eaton. In July 2025 the council marked the groundbreaking of its "purpose-built 176,000 sq ft Grade A facility", which it said is "expected to bring hundreds of jobs to Daedalus".

For smaller firms, the focus is the Fareham Innovation Centre. The council's page on Daedalus says "Fareham's £5.3M Innovation Centre opened in 2015", was "fully occupied within a year of opening", and was extended in 2018 with "33 new offices and five workshops". It also has The Bridge, "conference facilities for around 100 delegates". It hosts business events, including one listed below. In a March 2026 news post on the UK Science Park Association's site, the centre said it had 60 resident businesses and 350 people working on site, and that 545 businesses had received support through it. Those are the operator's own figures.

Fareham town centre

Fareham's council has taken a direct hand in its town centre. Its town centre page says it bought Fareham Shopping Centre in September 2023, opened Fareham Live, a "£16.5m arts and entertainment venue", in autumn 2024, and now runs "over 1,400" parking spaces serving the town centre. A Fareham Town Centre Regeneration Strategy 2025 to 2035 has been approved.

The council also talks to local business directly: the same page says "over 50 people from the local business community attended a Business Breakfast" in March 2025. A town centre regeneration breakfast is listed again below.

Gosport's waterfront

Gosport's plans centre on its harbour. In November 2023 the council was awarded up to £18,117,915 from the Levelling Up Fund for "Reconnecting Historic Gosport Waterfront", which it said "could create up to 200 new jobs" and "create space for skilled marine employment".

The other big project is the renovation of the Rum Store. The council's page on its renovation gives an estimated cost of £22 million, with "£11m from the Government" matched by the site's owners, UK Docks, and says the building will be used "mainly as employment space for the growing marine industry based nearby". It expects the building to open for use in 2027.

That fits the council's Economic Development Strategy 2020 to 2031, which names "significant strengths in marine, maritime, engineering and defence" and also notes that local business growth "has been stymied by the shortage of commercial premises". The strategy dates from 2021, so read it as the council's direction rather than a current measure.

What this means if you're going to events

• Treat them as one area. The two towns are a short drive apart, and Daedalus sits between them. Look at both Fareham and Gosport, and at Lee-on-the-Solent.
• Councils run events here. Both councils list their own business events: a regeneration breakfast in Fareham and an informal networking event in Gosport. They are a good way to hear about plans first-hand and meet the officers working on them.
• Expect marine and engineering firms. Gosport's strategy is built around them, and Eaton's new facility at Daedalus is engineering. A construction networking event is listed too.
• Weekly groups for regulars. Two weekly referral chapters and a regular business network meet in the two boroughs. Our guide to choosing a networking group compares the kinds.
• Ask about the plans. With a shopping centre, an enterprise zone and a waterfront all changing, the plans are an easy thing to ask about. The council pages linked above are the place to check the latest.
• Awards season reaches Gosport. The borough's own business awards are listed below, and other awards are on the awards page.

Where to start

The events below are Fareham's and Gosport's listed dates at the last build, from the organisers' own listings. For more, see the Fareham breakfasts, the Gosport breakfasts, the Portsmouth and the south coast area page, or this week.