Responding to the latest Company Insolvency statistics covering April 2025 published this morning by the Insolvency Service Sarah Rayment, Global Co-Head of Restructuring, Kroll:
“While there have been understandable concerns from businesses about the effect of higher employment costs on growth and indeed survival, for now, we are not seeing a surge in company administrations, which typically affect mid-sized and larger businesses.
“What’s interesting is that when you dig into the numbers, there is distress across retail as well as leisure and hospitality. Both of which are struggling to deal and plan for the NICs hike and increased minimum wage. Poundland is the latest example, but we’ve also seen recent challenges at WH Smith as well as B&M.
“At the beginning of the year, it did feel that we were in a doom loop off the back of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. However, there is cautious room for optimism as for the first time in a long while, we have a stable UK Government alongside falling interest rates and a recent flurry of new trade deals. There is also evidence of capital coming into the UK off the back of wider tariff uncertainty.
“The big question is whether smaller businesses will be able to ride the course of higher taxes or just like the weather, should we be optimistic.”
| Sector | April 2025 | April 2024 | Total YTD 2025 | Jan – Apr Total 2025 | Run rate 2024-2025 PR |
| Retail | 12 | 11 | 54 | 46 | 40.9% |
| Construction | 14 | 14 | 49 | 63 | -6.4% |
| Manufacturing | 10 | 12 | 47 | 68 | -21.2% |
| Leisure & Hospitality | 10 | 9 | 42 | 27 | 21.2% |
| Real Estate | 7 | 10 | 40 | 42 | -7.7% |
| Media & Tech | 8 | 13 | 34 | 52 | 25.5% |
| Energy & Industrial | 6 | 5 | 24 | 23 | 2.9% |
| Recruitment | 7 | 6 | 19 | 16 | 9.6% |
| Automotive | 4 | 5 | 17 | 11 | 34.2% |
| Professional Practices | 6 | 2 | 17 | 10 | -5.6% |
| Total (inc. other sectors) | 103 | 112 | 425 | 450 | -4.0% |
*The run rate column refers to the percentage change in administrations if rates were to continue at their current trajectory.
Administrations are a formal insolvency process designed to rescue business and maximise returns for creditors. Administrations are typically utilised for larger companies where a restructure is needed to save parts or all the business and tend to be a better barometer on the health of the economy, whereas company liquidations represent small and microbusinesses, with very few assets and debts.