Company collapses in England and Wales fell last year, according to new official figures, but compulsory liquidations soared to a 10-year high and experts warned of more uncertainty for firms in the coming months.
Some 23,872 companies went out of business in 2024, the Insolvency Service said, down 5% on the previous year.
Despite the drop year on year, the number of insolvencies was far higher than most of the last decade, and remains at levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis.
The figures also revealed that compulsory liquidations – where courts order firms to stop trading because they cannot pay their debts – jumped 14% to 3,230 in 2024 after a year-end surge.
The number of monthly compulsory liquidations soared by…
