Monthly insolvency statistics
A snapshot of corporate and personal insolvencies across England and Wales in 2024
Restructuring & Insolvency Insights
Topical updates from the world of Restructuring plus a monthly report on Insolvency Statistics for England and Wales.
31 October 2024
Insolvency service cracks down on Covid loan abuse
The Insolvency service have recently issued a number of articles highlighting their focus on sanctioning those who are found guilty of Covid loan misconduct – those who deliberately abused Covid support during the pandemic, when the correct and timely allocation of public funds was most needed by genuine businesses.
27 June 2024
Personal insolvencies - Stratford Upon Avon
This article provides an insight into individual insolvencies broken down by location, age and gender for 2022, and what the expected road ahead looks like for England and Wales.
HMRC – taking a stand on unpaid tax
The wave of personal insolvency predicted to hit the UK may not have yet materialised, but there is one creditor who is starting to make ripples.
“Advantage Becker” - obtains bankruptcy discharge
Boris Becker, declared bankrupt in 2017 with creditors of over £50m, was famously found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act 1986 (“the Act”). This included failure to disclose and removal of significant assets. Under the spotlight of international media, he was sentenced to a prison term and later deported from the UK.
Number of retailers going insolvent jumps
Our team’s analysis of Insolvency Service data has found the number of insolvencies of retailers has increased 19% in the past year, from 1,843 in 2022/23, to 2,195 in 2023/24 (year-end January 31)*.
A sustainable solution or delaying the inevitable?
The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) Regulations 2020, commonly referred to as the Breathing Space Regulations, came into force on 4 May 2021.
UK Personal Insolvency Framework fit for purpose?
Our current personal insolvency procedures were introduced into legislation many decades ago, and although there have been some recent legislative tweaks, the personal insolvency landscape in the UK was overdue a second look.
Insolvencies of young men increased 15% last year
Insolvencies of men under 25 have increased 15%, from 2,580 in 2021 to 2,980 in 2022 – the biggest rise of any demographic group in the UK in the past year.
Insolvencies of breweries triple in the last year
The number of UK breweries becoming insolvent has tripled in the past year, jumping to 45 in the year to March 31 2023, up from 15 in the previous year* says Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm.
Sharp increase in directors banned for Covid fraud
The Insolvency Service is accelerating its efforts to pursue and punish directors responsible for Covid Fraud. It is now averaging 35 director disqualifications a month, almost treble the 12 per month it averaged last year.
Tips to help your business avoid common pitfalls
Whilst it’s undeniable that demand for restructuring advice increases during times of economic turbulence, it’s also true that there is also always an underlying level of demand which is often driven by common pitfalls that we see time and again in the businesses requiring our support.
What it means for households and businesses
With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee confirming its base rate will rise by 0.5% to 1.75%, households and business are going to see big jumps in their interest payments almost overnight.
IVA firm Vanguard abuse £9m of customer payments
Recently, volume Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) provider, Vanguard Insolvency Practitioners Limited (Vanguard) was wound up in the public interest by the Insolvency Service.
UK funds £1.8bn spend in distressed PE deals
Private equity firms specialising in buying distressed businesses had a very busy 2021, topping their prior-year spending by over £1bn. But what’s driving their activity, who are they targeting, and what’s the forecast for 2022?
5-year high in company insolvencies
Company insolvencies have risen by 39% to reach the highest level since 2017
Personal insolvency in Scotland update
Over the last 12 months, there has been a lot of focus on the personal insolvency regime in Scotland with the Scottish Government concerned about the financial impact the pandemic would have on people.
The pandemic effect on creditor petitions
The latest data on creditor petitions by sector indicates how the pandemic has impacted business in the United Kingdom, with building suppliers issuing the most winding-up petitions followed by energy suppliers and commercial finance.
Personal insolvency statistics - 2021
A snapshot of personal insolvencies across England and Wales in 2021.
Construction company insolvencies
Construction company insolvencies hit a two-year high as 285 businesses go under in a month.
Cryptocurrency losses causing UK bankruptcies
Losses through cryptocurrency speculation are leading to UK personal insolvencies.
Insolvency Live E-bulletin
The Insolvency Service held its annual event “Insolvency Live”, online recently.
Embargoed
UK travel agent and tour operator insolvencies have jumped 17% in the last year* from 59 to 69.
A crackdown on Covid-19 fraud begins
The number of company directors convicted of criminal activity during the pandemic has risen 205% to 122 in the year to 30 September 2021, up from just 40 for the same period to 30 September 2020.
Goto Energy Administration
Goto Energy has gone into administration but under Ofgem’s safety net, all customers are well protected
Hospitality not out of the woods yet
Our research indicates that there has been a 65% rise in the write-offs of loans to restaurants and hotels during the pandemic, with £99 million written off by banks and other lenders in 2020/21*, this is up from £60 million in the previous year.
UK hotspot for risky mortgages
South London is the UK’s hotspot for high-risk mortgages with Wandsworth number one in the table for most ‘high-risk’ mortgages.
Thousands of businesses face threat of insolvency
Thousands of businesses face the threat of insolvency as the ban on winding-up petitions ends on October 1.
Are Solicitors in PII market facing perfect storm
Pressure is mounting within the legal sector in renewing PII cover by 1 October 2021, impacting the cashflow and viability of firms
End of temporary insolvency restriction measures
The Insolvency Service has announced that the 1st October 2021 will mark the end of restrictions on winding up petitions introduced in June 2020 by the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Act 2020.
The Pension Schemes Act 2021
New legislation is here which will be of keen interest and importance to all trustees of UK Defined Benefit (DB) schemes as well as management boards, shareholders and bank funders associated with a DB scheme.