September 2024 Insolvency Statistics – Slow Progress?

The end of summer brought with it mostly good news as the number of corporate insolvencies this September dropped from the same period in 2023. Of course, these figures are still very high compared to pre-pandemic records but has at least halted the steady increases that had become the norm over 2024.

In England and Wales, 1,973 businesses filed for insolvency over the course of September, marking a 7% decrease from the 2,130 seen in 2023. The year so far has seen several drops from 2023’s figures, and while they’ve been interspersed with the occasional hike upwards, it seems as if the spiralling number of insolvencies has not only peaked, but is also starting to wane, albeit slowly.

Unfortunately, September also marked a 2% rise in insolvencies from August 2024’s 1,943. In reality, however, this equates to a fairly small difference of just 30 businesses.

These insolvencies were made up of 226 compulsory liquidations, 155 administrations, 17 company voluntary arrangements, and 1,575 creditors’ voluntary liquidations

Elsewhere, Scotland recorded 73 company insolvencies for September, improving on last year’s tally by a significant 16%, while Northern Ireland filed just 28, a figure 24% lower than September 2023.

There does seem to be, not just a slowing down, but a gradual decrease from last year’s highs

Increase from August’s figures of “little concern”

Senior Client Manager at Forbes Burton, Ben Westoby isn’t overly concerned with the September’s slight increase from August. Speaking about the Insolvency Service’s latest report, he said, “The differences between months are of little concern, and will continue to provide little in way of any trends to follow at the moment.

“As we suspected earlier in the year though, there does seem to be, not just a slowing down, but a gradual decrease from last year’s highs. Without a great deal of change in economic conditions or global politics though, this decrease will be very slow indeed. As such, looking for monthly differences won’t yield any useful information, as the movement downwards is slower than that.

“The decreases from the same period last year are much more useful to gauge the overall trend, and with these, we can see that in general, 2024 is starting to shape up as the start of a slide back down. Hopefully, these numbers can eventually meet those see before the pandemic, though the chances of that depend heavily on external factors”.

Is your business finding its bills trickier to pay?

While figures might be slowly dropping, insolvency numbers are still high. Closure remains a very real threat for many SMEs, making it advisable for business owners to take action as soon as issues start to occur. If you’ve started to notice that bills are more difficult to pay, cash flow reserves are becoming stretched, or that takings are down, make sure you give one of our friendly specialists a ring.

With a range of solutions aimed at making life easier for business owners, Forbes Burton can help you to successfully navigate your current difficulties. Get in touch for a free consultation today to see how we can help. Call us on 0800 975 0380, or email [email protected] for your free consultation with no obligation.