News of UK Companies That Have Gone Bust Or In Administration

The Insolvency Service has published the latest release of its monthly series to provide more up to date information on the number of companies and individuals who are unable to pay debts and enter formal insolvency procedures. The release supplements the Insolvency Service’s quarterly company and individual Insolvency National Statistics.The monthly series began during COVID-19 to assess the impact companies and individuals faced. The releases have continued since to get more in depth and timely data, along with the quarterly release. Company Insolvencies (UK) In October 2023 there was a total of 2,315 registered company insolvencies across England and Wales, further broken down as follows:1,889 Company Voluntary Liquidations (CVLs) - 19% higher than in October 2022 256 Compulsory Liquidations – 2% higher than in October 2022 (and almost exact to that noted for September 2023!) 146 Administrations – 36% higher than in October 2022 23 Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) – more than 4 times the amount recorded in October 2022 1 Receivership appointmentOverall figures are 18% higher than in October 2022 and also more than recorded in September 2023.Compulsory Voluntary Liquidations are thought to be a main driver for the total company insolvency increase. Compulsory Liquidations and Administrations have returned to levels near that in 2019, pre-pandemic. For CVAs and Receiverships, numbers remained stable with slight increase.Note: between 26 June 2020 and 31 October 2023, 47 companies were granted a moratorium and 22 had restructuring plans registered at Companies House. These procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. Company Insolvencies (Scotland) October 2023 saw 99 company insolvencies in Scotland. Figures comprised 52 CVLs, 35 compulsory liquidations, 2 CVAs and 4 administrations. There were no receiverships. These statistics were 21% higher than in October 2022.Historically, the number of company insolvencies registered in Scotland has been driven by compulsory liquidations but since April 2020, there have been almost three times as many CVLS as compulsory liquidations. For the first ten months of 2023, CVL numbers remained more than 1.5 times higher than compulsory liquidation numbers.Between 26 June 2020 and 31 October 2023, there were no moratoriums obtained in Scotland and two companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 created these two procedures. Company Insolvencies (Northern Ireland) In October 2023, there were 27 company insolvencies in Northern Ireland, comprising 14 compulsory liquidations, 1 administration and 12 CVLs. There were no CVAs or receiverships. Compared to October 2022, numbers were 80% higher. When looking against September 2023 figures, October 2023 saw fewer total company insolvencies. Touching on individual insolvencies…. Individual Insolvencies in the UK for October 2023 totalled 7,271. This is 27% lower than that in the same month the previous year, thought to be due to a decline in the amount of IVAs.In terms of Debt Relief Orders (DROs) recorded in October 2023, 3,245 were noted. When looking back to October figures of 2022, 2023 stats are 71% higher.There were 703 bankruptcies for England and Wales in October 2023. The records are made up of 553 debtor applications and 150 creditor petitions.Compared to October 2022, bankruptcies were 28% higher, debtor applications were 18% higher and creditor petitions were 90% higher. Numbers for bankruptcy were higher than in the equivalent months of 2022, but remained below pre-2020 levels.It was also found that there were 5,933 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) registered in October 2023. This figure is 27% lower than in October 2022. Compared to September 2023, this is quite an increase but it should be noted IVA numbers for 2023 overall have been lower than the record-high numbers seen in 2022.When looking at the figures for Northern Ireland, October 2023 saw 125 individual insolvencies. Compared to October 2022 statistics, this is 22% lower. 2023 October numbers consisted of 94 IVAs, 7 DROs and 24 bankruptcies.Find the full publication of statistics here.  KSA Group's view; It has been widely reported that the insolveny numbers are going up and this is due to the tougher conditions that businesses have found themselves in. The cost of living crisis has been going on for a while but in the face of high interest rates that seem to be staying high many companies have had to close.