UK company insolvency statistics for 2019

The 2019 company insolvency stats for England and Wales have been published by The Insolvency Service, alongside UK insolvency statistics for October to December 2019 (Q4).

Company insolvency statistics for England and Wales 2019

In 2019, total underlying company insolvencies increased to their highest annual level since 2013.
This was driven largely by an increase in underlying creditors’ voluntary liquidations, which reached their highest annual level since 2009.
Administrations increased in 2019 compared to 2018, while compulsory liquidations decreased, and company voluntary arrangements were flat.

The company insolvency statistics for 2019 showed that there were 17,196 underlying company insolvencies in 2019, a 6.8 per cent increase on 2018 and the highest level of underlying insolvencies since 2013.

Both underlying creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) and administrations increased from 2018, with CVLs increasing by 8.2 per cent to 12,060 and administrations by 24.0 per cent to 1,814. This was the highest level of underlying CVLs since 2009 and the highest level of administrations since 2013.

Compulsory liquidation fell by 5.4 per cent in 2019 to 2,970, while company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) fell by 1.1 per cent to 351. There was just one administrative receivership in 2019, unchanged from 2018.

Industry sector insolvency findings for England and Wales 2019

The construction industry group saw the largest increase in underlying insolvency volumes in the 12 months ending Q4 2019
There were 97 extra underlying company insolvencies compared with the 12 months ending Q1 2019, a 0.6% increase.

There were 69 more underlying insolvency volumes in the construction industry group in the 12 months ending Q4 2019 when compared with the 12 months ending Q3 2019, a 2.2 per cent increase. The same grouping saw the highest number of new underlying company insolvencies with 3,198.

The information and communication services group saw the largest decrease in volumes (73 fewer, a 7.5 per cent decrease) compared with the same period last year.

Company insolvency statistics for England and Wales – Q4 2019

Underlying company insolvencies decreased in Q4 2019 compared with Q3 2019.
This was driven by decreases across all main types of company insolvency.
Total insolvencies were higher in Q4 2019 compared with the same quarter of 2018.
Compulsory liquidations have fallen for the fourth successive quarter.

Having risen for three consecutive quarters between Q4 2018 and Q3 2019, total company insolvencies decreased by 1.8 per cent in Q4 2019 to 4,284. However, total company insolvencies were 8.1 per cent higher than in Q4 2018.

CVLs fell by 0.9 per cent when compared with the previous quarter to 3,073, while compulsory liquidations decreased by 4.2 per cent, its fourth consecutive quarterly decrease. There were 77 CVAs in Q4 2019 (89 in Q3 2019), and administrations decreased by 2.1 per cent to 474. There were no administrative receiverships recorded in Q4 2019.

71.7 per cent of all company insolvencies in Q4 2019 were CVLs, 15.4 per cent were compulsory liquidations and 12.9 per cent were other types of company insolvency.

Company insolvency statistics for Scotland – Q4 2019

There were 259 company insolvencies in Scotland in Q4 2019.
This was an increase of 5.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Due to administrative differences, most company liquidations in Scotland are compulsory liquidations. This is in contrast to England and Wales, where creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) account for most company liquidations. Figures in Scotland are also not seasonally adjusted.