Company administrations increase by a third

This is a sharp increase on the 429 seen during the same period in 2022, with last month (June) seeing the second-highest number of administrations this year hitting 121. The highest level seen was in March, when 130 took place – pushing the average number of administrations per month to 121. 

Meanwhile, the sector that saw the largest increase in administrations was that of the food and drink sector – increasing year on year from 53 to 56. This has been put down to a number of factors, including the increasing cost of borrowing, inflationary pressures driving up wages and a lack of working capital.  

Kroll’s UK head of restructuring David Fleming said: “Last year we saw surge of liquidations among smaller businesses. Many of these failures were companies that had struggled through the pandemic and simply ran out of options.

“The companies we are now seeing are managing a mixture of issues relating to Brexit, Ukraine, inflationary pressures and increased borrowing costs against a backdrop of leveraged balance sheets. This year it’s highly likely we will see administrations surpass the pre-pandemic average for the first time.”