FOI release

FOI217 – Insolvencies by SIC Code 2007

Updated 27 October 2021

Our ref: FOI 20/21-217

Date: 01 April 2021

Dear

Re: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request

Thank you for your email of 17 March in which you requested from the Insolvency Service:

“he dataset I’m interested in is:

Table A1c, Section G, Division 47, Group 473 (Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores).

In the file below:

Counts of registered company insolvencies by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 code for England & Wales and Scotland, for each quarter from 2010 to 2020, broken down by the type of insolvency procedure. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/956653/Industry_Tables_in_Excel__xlsx__Format_- _Company_Insolvency_Statistics_Q4_2020.xlsx

However, more specifically, the data for in the above file starts from Q,2010 and I’d like to know if it’s available to get the figures for the above group in the period Q1,2007-Q1,2010. Is this possible?”

Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can confirm that the agency holds the information that you have requested. I have compiled a summary table to answer to your request using the data held that covers the period Q1 2007 to Q4 2009. Though please note that the information provided should be considered an estimate. Caveats to these data can be found under ‘Section 16 (Advice and Assistance)’ at the end of this letter.

Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated numbers of companies in the ‘retail sale of automotive fuel’ industry between Q1 2007 and Q4 2009.

Table 1: Estimated number of company insolvencies in the 'retail sale of automotive fuel’ industry

Note 1: Industry breakdowns are presented in line with the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007). Further information on the SIC 2007 can be found on the Office for National Statistics’ website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/ukstandardindustrialclassificationofeconomicactivities/uksic2007

Note 2: Excludes administrations which have resulted in a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation during these calendar months.

United Kingdom, Q1 2007 to Q4 2009, Not seasonally-adjusted

Quarter	Number of Insolvencies
2007 Q1	2
2007 Q2	0
2007 Q3	1
2007 Q4	1
2008 Q1	0
2008 Q2	2
2008 Q3	1
2008 Q4	2
2009 Q1	2
2009 Q2	3
2009 Q3	1
2009 Q4	2

Sources: Insolvency service (compulsory liquidations); Companies House (all other insolvency procedures)

Under section 16 of the Act (Advice and Assistance) you may find it useful to note:

Data on companies that have entered compulsory liquidation are sourced from the Insolvency Service administrative systems.

Companies House data are used as the source of reporting on all other company insolvencies (creditors’ voluntary liquidations, administrations, company voluntary arrangements and receivership appointments). Companies House carries out its statutory functions of maintaining the registry of corporate bodies that are regulated by the Companies Act 2006. Note that Companies House does not monitor all business types (e.g. sole traders) and for information on these and other business types you may wish to contact the Office of National Statistics:https://www.ons.gov.uk/.

Caveats to note when interpreting information provided in this letter

The industry SIC code for compulsory liquidations is recorded with SIC 2003 codes. The 2003 SIC code for ‘Retail sale of automotive fuel’ is 5050. Therefore, this SIC code was used to determine compulsory liquidations.

Companies are assigned to a sector (or industry) in line with the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) of economic activities (Standard industrial classification of economic activities: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-industrial-classification-of-economic-activities-sic) at time of registration at Companies House. However, a company may have changed its primary business since first registration, or the industry sector might be recorded as that of its holding company and appear under “activities of holding companies” within the Business.

If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided you and would like us to reconsider our decision by way of an internal review (IR), please contact our Information Rights Team at foi@insolvency.gov.uk or by post at:

Information Rights Team,
The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6FD
United Kingdom

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you wish for them to investigate any complaint you may have regarding our handling of your request. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect an IR to have been completed in the first instance.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team, The Insolvency Service

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Official receivers and the Adjudicator are Data Controllers in respect of personal data processed by the Insolvency Service. For the details about how personal data is processed by the agency, please see the full Insolvency Service Personal Information Charter here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service/about/personal-information-charter