Godalming sits in Waverley, a district of 128,200 people at the 2021 Census, which grew more slowly over the decade than the South East as a whole. That matters commercially. This is not a market that will hand you new customers through population growth, so the work is about being the business the people already here choose.

Now the claim to fame, because it is worth getting right. On 26 September 1881 Godalming became the first place in the world to offer a public electricity supply, meaning electricity sold to any member of the public for shops, houses and streets. It was not the first town with electric street lighting, and Godalming Museum says so plainly, because Paris, London, San Francisco and Blackpool got there first. The scheme also failed. The town went back to gas in May 1884 because electricity cost too much to run, and permanent supply only returned in 1902. Say first public electricity supply and you are right. Say first electric street lights and any local will know you copied it off somewhere else.

The rest of the local base is schools, care and independents. Charterhouse is here, though it was founded in London in 1611 and only moved to Godalming in 1872, so do not write it up as a Godalming foundation. The Meath Epilepsy Charity runs residential and day services from Westbrook Road. The Town Show and Carnival is on 30 May 2026 and the Food Festival on 4 July, and those are the days the High Street fills and people decide quickly. We measure that in enquiries, not rankings screenshots.