Q3 2021: Company Insolvency Statistics

The company insolvency statistics for the third quarter of 2021 (July to September) have been released. Findings are uncovered here.

Company Insolvency in England and Wales

Q3 2021 saw 3,765 company insolvencies which is 17% higher than the amount registered in the previous quarter and 43% higher than that during the same quarter of 2020. The driving factor here was the rise in CVLs – the highest quarterly level since Q2 2009! When assessing all other procedures, numbers were close to that of the previous quarter and lower in the same quarter of the year before.

Further breakdown as follows:

• Creditors voluntary liquidations accounted for 92% of cases (up by 19% from 2021 Q2 and 86% from 2020 Q3)
• Administrations accounted for 4% of cases (no change from 2021 Q2 and 58% from 2020 Q3)
• Compulsory liquidations accounted for 3% of cases (3% higher than in 2021 Q2 and 65% lower than in 2020 Q3)
• Company voluntary arrangements accounted for 1% of cases (20% lower than in 2021 Q2 and 68% lower compared to 2020 Q3)
• There were no receivership appointments – this particular insolvency procedure appears very rare to date.

There were two new restructuring procedures created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. Between June 26 2020 and 30 September 2021, 14 companies obtained a moratorium and nine companies has a restructuring plan registered at Companies House.

It should be noted that some explanation of the lower-compared to pre-pandemic level – of both individual and company insolvencies, is likely to be driven by the support measures put in place by the Government.

Liquidation Rates per 10,000 active companies

In the four quarters ending Q3 2021, the liquidation rate for companies was 29.3 per 10,000 active companies in England and Wales (1 in 341 companies liquidated in the 12 months ending Q3 2021). This rate is lower than the same quarter last year when the rate was 32.3 per 10,000 active companies. When looking at the rate from Q2 2021, it is an increase of 3.2 per 10,000 active companies.

Company Insolvencies by Industry

From analysing SIC codes of companies and the insolvency statistics, it has been shown that the industries experiencing the highest amount of insolvencies in the 12 months ending Q3 2021 were:

• Construction – 2,133 insolvencies
• Accommodation – 1,577 insolvencies
• Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of vehicles – 1,478 insolvencies

Such results match that of the same period the year before, with these three sectors experiencing the most insolvencies too. For all sectors, results were similar. This all is true compared to that in Q2 2021.

It can be noted that there were a few sectors that saw an increase of insolvencies; Information and Communication (18%) and Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector (62%) insolvencies.

Company Insolvencies in Scotland 

In Scotland, there were 231 company insolvencies recorded for Q3 2021. This was 66% higher than in the same period of 2020 and also higher compared to Q2 2021. Statistics included 33 compulsory liquidations, 182 CVLs and 16 administrations. There were no receiverships or CVAs.

The liquidation rate for the 12 months ending Q3 2021 was 27.0 per 10,000 active companies. This was down by 5.9 compared to the same period the year before.

Company Insolvencies in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland saw 34 company insolvencies in Q3 2021which was 42% more than in Q3 2020. The statistics consist of 29 CVLs, 2 compulsory liquidations, 2 CVAs and 1 administration. There were no receiverships.

The liquidation rate for the 12 months ending Q3 2021 was 13.5 per 10,000 active companies in Northern Ireland. This was a decrease of 19.6 from in the same period the year before.

The full report and findings can be seen here.