Admin List Insolvency Report

More than 27,000 businesses went under last year. This is roughly the same as 2023, and 8% higher than insolvencies during the 2009 financial crisis.

2024 set a new record for business insolvencies in the UK.

More than 400 construction businesses became insolvent at the start of the quarter. Construction firms also accounted for 17.3% of all insolvencies in England and Wales in April

1 out of 6 businesses in construction that entered insolvency this quarter

The national balance sheet, which is the total value of all assets in the UK, came to £12 trillion. That’s a little less than £200,000 per person.

£600M - The level of decline in the UK’s net worth since 2022

After construction, retail was the sector most impacted by insolvencies in 2024. With more than 1,70,000 redundancies recorded, the rate of unemployment rose by 42% compared to last year,

1,70,000 retail jobs were lost in 2024

The level of liquidations is significantly higher than administrator appointments and winding up petitions together. This has been a recurring trend in the UK distressed business market since the last few years.

16.5% - The rise in the number of liquidations as compared to 2023

North East England has seen the highest increase in insolvency rates due to economic downturns in manufacturing and retail.

Distressed Businesses: Regional Distribution

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget projected more than £36.2 billion of tax changes and policy reforms that plumetted business confidence greatly.

Economic uncertainty peaked after the Autumn Budget

With more than 20,000 liquidations tracked all around the UK, the value of distressed asset acquisitions crossed £400 million. A large percentage of these came from SMEs.

£400M worth of assets were declared insolvent

After a decline in March, April witnessed a surge in insolvency numbers, reaching 2562 . This was right before the Spring Budget, suggesting government policies directly affect business confidence.