Payment times › United Kingdom › Insolvencies
Insolvency Service data, England and Wales · updated August 2026

How many companies are going insolvent in England and Wales?

1,946 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency in August 2026, down 3% on 2,007 a year earlier. Over the last 12 months, 50.1 in every 10,000 companies became insolvent.

August 2026 was 22% below the 10-year peak of 2,483 in May 2023.

Company insolvencies per month, England and Wales, September 2016 to August 2026
05001,0001,5002,0002,50020172019202120232025Peak 2,483, May 20231,946
Monthly figures as a table
MonthTotalCVLCompulsoryAdmin
August 20261,9461,431314182
July 20261,9341,495291126
June 20261,8501,372277187
May 20261,8601,417283135
April 20262,0831,498384180
March 20262,0271,467304236
February 20261,8971,476259152
January 20261,7591,332256157
December 20251,6921,322248107
November 20251,8531,439255140
October 20252,0171,559316125
September 20251,9691,549277126
1,946insolvencies in August 2026
-3%on the same month last year
22,887in the last 12 months
50.1per 10,000 companies, 12 months

Are company insolvencies rising in England and Wales?

Company insolvencies in England and Wales fell 6% to 5,730 over June to August 2026, against 6,102 over June to August 2025.

How does the insolvency rate compare?

50.1 in every 10,000 companies in England and Wales became insolvent in the last 12 months, against 48.5 in Scotland and 40.5 in Northern Ireland.

Which insolvency procedures are most common?

Creditors’ voluntary liquidations were the most common procedure in August 2026, at 74% of insolvencies (1,431 of 1,946).

Compulsory liquidations rose to 314 from 298 a year earlier.

Creditors’ voluntary liquidation1,431
directors close an insolvent company. August 2025: 1,579.
Compulsory liquidation314
a creditor or HMRC wins a winding-up order. August 2025: 298.
Administration182
an administrator tries to rescue the business. August 2025: 114.

The other 19 were company voluntary arrangements and receiverships.

Which industries have the most insolvencies?

Construction had the most company insolvencies over Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, with 3,866, 17% of the total.

Construction 3,866 33 days to pay Wholesale and retail trade 3,395 37 days to pay Accommodation and food service 3,201 36 days to pay Administrative and support services 2,212 27 days to pay Professional, scientific and technical 1,913 30 days to pay Manufacturing 1,827 45 days to pay Information and communication 1,373 29 days to pay Real estate 965 26.5 days to pay Other service activities 957 31 days to pay Transport and storage 693 35 days to pay Human health and social work 617 26 days to pay Financial and insurance 503 22 days to pay Arts, entertainment and recreation 447 28 days to pay Education 252 25 days to pay Water, sewerage and waste 144 37 days to pay Agriculture, forestry and fishing 84 31 days to pay Electricity and gas supply 58 26 days to pay Mining and quarrying 23 32 days to pay

Counts, not rates: sectors with more companies have more cases. Days to pay are the median for large companies in that sector. This page reports how long large companies take to pay, from government payment filings. How long small businesses wait to be paid is a different measure on a different group of businesses, and it is on the accounts receivable statistics pages.

What does this mean for money owed to you?

22,887 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency in the last 12 months, and each one can leave its suppliers with unpaid invoices.

When a customer becomes insolvent, unsecured suppliers rank behind secured creditors and preferential creditors such as employees and HMRC, and often recover little, so the time to act is while an invoice is still only late. UK credit control software sends the reminders and statements that keep overdue invoices moving, and the late payment interest calculator shows what the law lets you add to them.

For how long UK businesses wait to be paid across the whole economy, see the UK accounts receivable statistics.

Questions about this data

What counts as a company insolvency?

In England and Wales, a company insolvency is a compulsory liquidation, a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, an administration, a company voluntary arrangement or a receivership, and there were 1,946 of them in August 2026.

How often does the data update?

The Insolvency Service publishes company insolvency statistics every month, and this page carries 120 months of them, from September 2016 to August 2026.

Where do the numbers come from?

The monthly counts are the Insolvency Service’s seasonally adjusted company insolvency statistics for England and Wales, and the industry counts are its Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 figures by SIC section, covering 22,530 insolvencies.

Why does an insolvent customer matter to a supplier?

22,887 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency in the last 12 months. When a customer becomes insolvent, unsecured suppliers rank behind secured creditors and preferential creditors such as employees and HMRC, and often recover little, so the time to act is while an invoice is still only late.

Cite: Paidnice (2026). UK company insolvency tracker. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/uk/insolvencies. Source: Insolvency Service monthly company insolvency statistics, England and Wales, seasonally adjusted, September 2016 to August 2026. Industry counts: Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Insolvency Service company insolvency statistics.

Related guides

Enforce your payment terms on every invoice

Large UK customers take a median of 31 days to pay, and 15% of invoices run late. Paidnice sends the reminders and adds the late fees in Xero or QuickBooks, so you do not have to chase.

Start a free trial

UK figures cover England and Wales. The payment-days figures come from UK payment practice reports, which cover payments to all suppliers.