Company insolvencies rose sharply in England and Wales during Q2, according to the latest figures from the Insolvency Service. Between 1 April and 30 April 2022, there were 5,629 company insolvencies, up 13% on the previous three months and 81% per cent higher than in the same quarter last year.
Among those insolvencies, voluntary liquidations reached their highest quarterly level since 1960. Creditors’ voluntary liquidations reached 4,908 in the second quarter of 2022, the highest since 1960, when the Insolvency Service started collecting such data. One in every 228 companies entered liquidation in the last year.
The three industries that were particularly impacted were retail, hospitality and construction. This is due to inflation and other pressures but there was a sharp rise in insolvencies due to Covid support ending in 2021 along with restrictions on certain winding-up petitions leading to compulsory liquidations and eviction from commercial landlords.
Official data shows that the prices of materials bought by businesses rose by 24% in June, the highest since records began in 1985. Economic growth is slowing thanks to inflation and consumer confidence stands at a new low. Supply and staff shortages have been a problem too.