Accredited official statistics

Commentary - Company Insolvency Statistics December 2024

Published 21 January 2025

Released

21 January 2025

Next release

18 February 2025

Media enquiries

press.office@insolvency.gov.uk

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Statistical enquiries

Gary McElroy (author)

statistics@insolvency.gov.uk

David Webster (responsible statistician)

This publication relates to company insolvency only. Statistics relating to individual insolvency can be found on the individual insolvency releases page.

1. Main messages for England and Wales

Annual summary for 2024

• In 2024, there were 23,872 registered company insolvencies comprising 18,840 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 3,230 compulsory liquidations, 1,597 administrations, 202 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) and three receivership appointments. The total number of company insolvencies in 2024 was 5% lower than in 2023, which saw the highest annual number since 1993.

• The change in total company insolvency numbers in 2024 was mostly driven by CVLs, which were 8% lower than the record high numbers seen in 2023. The number of compulsory liquidations increased by 14% from 2023 and was at the highest level since 2014. Administrations (up 2%) and CVAs (up 9%) were both higher than in 2023.

• One in 191 companies on the Companies House effective register (at a rate of 52.4 per 10,000 companies) entered insolvency in 2024, a decrease from the 57.2 per 10,000 companies that entered insolvency in 2023. The 2024 insolvency rate is much lower than the peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies seen during the 2008-09 recession, even though 2023 and 2024 saw similar numbers of insolvencies to 2008 and 2009. This is because the number of companies on the effective register has more than doubled.

Figure 1: Company insolvencies in 2024 decreased slightly from 2023 but remained high relative to historical levels.

Annual company insolvencies by type, England and Wales, 2004 to 2024

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

Monthly summary for December 2024

• After seasonal adjustment, the number of registered company insolvencies in England and Wales was 1,838 in December 2024, 6% lower than in November 2024 (1,962) and 14% lower than the same month in the previous year (2,139 in December 2023). The number of company insolvencies remained much higher than those seen both during the COVID-19 pandemic and between 2014 and 2019.

• Company insolvencies in December 2024 consisted of 273 compulsory liquidations, 1,421 CVLs, 127 administrations and 17 CVAs. There were no receivership appointments. Compulsory liquidations and CVA numbers were higher than in November 2024, but CVLs and administrations were lower.

Figure 2: The total number of company insolvencies in December 2024 was lower than in both November 2024 and December 2023.

Monthly company insolvencies by type, England and Wales, December 2019 to December 2024, seasonally adjusted

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

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 1a of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying comma-separated values (CSV) file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

1.1 Things you need to know about this release

This statistics release contains the latest data on company insolvency in the United Kingdom. It presents the numbers of companies that have entered a formal insolvency procedure after being unable to pay their debts. Information is presented separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Solvent company closures such as members’ voluntary liquidations and dissolutions are not included in these statistics. Information on business closures in general can be found in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business demography publication.

Statistics relating to company demographics are not presented here. Information relating to the revenue, number of employees and trading location of the company is generally not held by the Insolvency Service.

Underlying data for these monthly statistics for England and Wales were adjusted using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model where there was evidence of seasonality. The removal of systematic calendar-related variation enables comparisons to be made between months and the underlying trend in insolvency numbers to be determined. In accordance with the outcome of the April 2024 Seasonal Adjustment Review, compulsory liquidations, CVLs and administrations were all seasonally adjusted.

All figures presented within this release are provisional and subject to review. Further detail can be found in the accompanying Company Statistics Methodology and Quality document.

1.2 Designation as accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in July 2024. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Further details of the OSR’s review of these statistics can be found in their published Compliance Check. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

2. Company insolvency in England and Wales

2.1 Numbers of company insolvencies: annual summary

The total number of company insolvencies registered in 2024 was 23,872. This is 5% lower than 2023, which saw the highest annual number since 1993. The slight decrease in the total number of insolvencies in 2024 was driven by an 8% decrease in the number of CVLs compared to 2023, which saw the highest ever annual total in the time series since records began in 1960. However, compulsory liquidations were at their highest levels since 2014 with the 2024 annual number being 14% higher than 2023. Administrations in 2024 were also slightly higher than in 2023 (up 2%) and the annual number of CVAs increased by 9% over the same period. CVA numbers remained below levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2024, CVLs were the most common company insolvency procedure (79%), followed by compulsory liquidations (14%), administrations (7%) and CVAs (less than 1% of cases). There were also three receivership appointments in 2024, one more than in 2023. While compulsory liquidations accounted for a greater proportion of insolvencies in 2024 compared to 2023, the proportion was lower than five years ago due to an increase in CVL numbers over this period. In 2019, CVLs made up only 70% of cases, for example, whereas compulsory liquidations, administrations and CVAs accounted for 17%, 11% and 2%, respectively.

Company insolvencies peaked during the 2008-09 recession, following the gradual decline seen over the early 2000s. Volumes rose during 2018 and 2019, before falling to the lowest monthly volumes on record during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when government support measures were in place. CVL numbers then increased in 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels while compulsory liquidations and administration numbers remained low. Insolvency numbers increased further in 2023 to a 30-year high, with CVLs at a record high and compulsory liquidations at levels similar to 2015-19. The 2024 total was slightly lower than 2023, as a decrease in CVLs outweighed increases in other insolvency types.

Table 1: The total number of registered company insolvencies in 2024 was slightly lower than in 2023 but remained at levels last seen during the 2008-09 recession.

Company insolvencies, England and Wales, 2020 to 2024

Period	Total Company Insolvencies	Compulsory liquidations	Creditors’ voluntary liquidations	Administrations	Company voluntary arrangements	Receivership appointments
2020	12,631	1,353	9,488	1,527	260	3
2021	14,058	491	12,655	796	115	1
2022	22,129	1,965	18,821	1,231	111	1
2023	25,163	2,838	20,570	1,567	186	2
2024	23,872	3,230	18,840	1,597	202	3
Percentage change, 2024 compared with:
2023	-5%	14%	-8%	2%	9%	[z]
2022	8%	64%	0%	30%	82%	[z]

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

[z] indicates percentage change is not applicable as it has not been calculated where both numbers are less than five.

2.2 Numbers of company insolvencies: monthly summary

After seasonal adjustment, there were 1,838 company insolvencies in December 2024, 6% lower than in November 2024 and 14% lower than in December 2023. The decrease of 6% compared to November 2024 is less than the average absolute change of 12% between consecutive months over the past three years.

Figure 3 shows the historical trend of company insolvencies since January 2000.

Figure 3: The numbers of company insolvencies over the second half of 2024 were at the lower end of the historically high numbers seen in the past two years.

Monthly company insolvencies by type, England and Wales, January 2000 to December 2024, seasonally adjusted

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

Single-month peaks in ‘Other insolvencies’ in November 2006 and October 2008 are due to large numbers of connected managed service companies entering administration on the same day in these months.

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 1a of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

CVLs

In 2024, CVLs decreased by 8% from the record-high volumes registered in 2023. Between 2017 and 2019, CVLs had been rising at approximately 10% per year, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they fell to their lowest levels since 2007. Numbers then increased between 2021 to 2023.

In December 2024, CVLs were the most common type of insolvency, accounting for 77% of all company insolvencies. The number of CVLs decreased by 8% from November 2024 and was 22% lower compared to the same month last year (December 2023) after seasonal adjustment.

Compulsory liquidations

In 2024, compulsory liquidations were at the highest levels since 2014, having increased by 14% compared to 2023 volumes. This continued an increase from record low levels seen in 2020 and 2021, while restrictions applied to the use of statutory demands and certain winding-up petitions (leading to compulsory liquidations).

The seasonally adjusted number of compulsory liquidations in December 2024 was 4% higher than in November 2024 and 53% higher than in December 2023.

Administrations

In 2024, the number of administrations increased by 2% from 2023 and was slightly higher than annual totals seen between 2015 and 2019. Numbers of administrations have continued to increase since 2022 from an 18-year annual low seen during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

The number of administrations in December 2024 was 5% lower than in November 2024 and 5% higher than in December 2023 after seasonal adjustment.

Figure 4: The number of administrations in December 2024 was lower than in November 2024 but higher than in December 2023.

Monthly company insolvencies by type, England and Wales, December 2019 to December 2024, seasonally adjusted

Source: Companies House

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 1a of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

CVAs

In 2024, the number of CVAs was 9% higher than in 2023 and over 80% higher than in 2022, which saw the lowest ever annual total in the time series going back to 1993. Despite this increase, the number in 2024 was slightly less than 60% of the 2015 to 2019 annual average.

The number of CVAs was 13% higher in December 2024 than in December 2023 and 21% higher than in November 2024. CVAs are not seasonally adjusted due to low volumes.

Receivership appointments

There were no receivership appointments in December 2024. Receivership appointments are now rare, with only three being registered in 2024 (see Glossary for further information).

Table 2: Company insolvencies in December 2024 were 6% lower than in November 2024 and 14% lower than in December 2023.

Company insolvencies, England and Wales, December 2023 to December 2024, seasonally adjusted

Period	Total Company Insolvencies	Compulsory liquidations	Creditors’ voluntary liquidations	Administrations	Company voluntary arrangements	Receivership appointments
Dec 2023	2,139	179	1,824	121	15	0
Sep 2024	1,947	226	1,553	151	17	0
Oct 2024	1,729	180	1,438	97	12	2
Nov 2024	1,962	262	1,552	133	14	1
Dec 2024	1,838	273	1,421	127	17	0
Percentage change, latest month compared to:
vs Dec 2023	-14%	53%	-22%	5%	13%	[z]
vs Nov 2024	-6%	4%	-8%	-5%	21%	[z]

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

[z] indicates percentage change is not applicable as it has not been calculated where both numbers are less than five.

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 1a of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

2.3 Moratoriums and restructuring plans

In 2024, there were 10 moratoriums and 9 restructuring plans registered at Companies House. There were no moratoriums or restructuring plans registered in December 2024.

Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2024, 59 companies obtained a moratorium and 35 companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. The two procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2020 can be found in Table 1e of the tables accompanying this release.

2.4 Insolvency rates per 10,000 companies on the effective register

The company liquidation rate in 2024 was 52.4 per 10,000 companies on the effective register in England and Wales, as shown in Table 3 and Figure 5 below. This corresponds to one in 191 companies entering insolvency.

Insolvency rates are calculated on a 12-month rolling basis as a proportion of the total number of companies on the effective register. The 12-month rolling rates are more comparable over longer time periods than the absolute numbers and reduce the volatility associated with estimates based on single months. The December 2024 rates, for example, were calculated using data covering the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.

Table 3: The rate of company insolvency in 2024 was lower than in 2023.

Company insolvencies, 12-month rolling insolvency rate per 10,000 companies on the effective register, England and Wales

Period	Total Company Insolvencies	Compulsory liquidations	Creditors’ voluntary liquidations	Administrations	Company voluntary arrangements	Receivership appointments
Dec 2023	57.2	6.4	46.7	3.6	0.4	0.0
Sep 2024	55.0	7.1	43.9	3.6	0.5	0.0
Oct 2024	53.8	6.9	42.9	3.5	0.4	0.0
Nov 2024	52.9	6.9	42.1	3.5	0.4	0.0
Dec 2024	52.4	7.1	41.3	3.5	0.4	0.0
Change in rate, latest month compared to:
vs Dec 2023	-4.8	0.7	-5.4	-0.1	0.0	0.0

Source: Insolvency Service (compulsory liquidations only); Companies House (all other insolvency procedures)

Please note that total values may not equal the sum of their components due to rounding.

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 3 of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

Figure 5: The insolvency rate in 2024 was lower than in 2023.

12-month rolling insolvency rate per 10,000 companies on the effective register, England and Wales, January 2001 to December 2024

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

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 3 of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file or back to 1960 (where available) on the National Archives website.

Although company insolvency volumes over the past two years were at the highest levels seen since the 2008-09 recession, the number of companies on the Companies House register has increased over time. Therefore, recent insolvency rates have remained much lower than the peak rate of 113.1 insolvencies per 10,000 companies on the effective register during the 2008-09 recession. More information on the size of the Companies House register is available in Companies House Official Statistics publications.

2.5 Company insolvencies by industry (SIC 2007)

The following analysis excludes insolvencies involving non-trading and dormant companies as well as cases where the company industry was unknown (311 in the 12 months to November 2024, compared to 315 in the 12 months to November 2023). In some cases, confirmation of industry sector for compulsory liquidations may be delayed by one month or more. Therefore, insolvency numbers by industry are provided with a one-month lag.

Note that the numbers of insolvencies across industry sectors are likely to be partly driven by the number of companies on the effective register within each sector. Therefore, the insolvency volumes by industry presented here do not reflect the relative likelihood of companies in any given sector entering insolvency. SIC codes are self-reported. For these statistics, the first recorded SIC code has been used to determine the industry in which a company operates.

The five industries (in accordance with SIC 2007) that experienced the highest number of insolvencies in the 12 months to November 2024 were:

• Construction (4,102, 17% of cases with industry captured),

• Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (3,618, 15% of cases with industry captured),

• Accommodation and food service activities (3,555, 15% of cases with industry captured),

• Administrative and support service activities (2,394, 10% of cases with industry captured), and

• Manufacturing (1,917, 8% of cases with industry captured).

Figure 6: Most sectors saw decreases in the numbers of insolvencies in the 12 months to November 2024 compared to the previous 12 months.

Company insolvency by industry, England and Wales, December 2023 to November 2024 compared with December 2022 to November 2023

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

Monthly numbers by 3-level Standard Industrial Classification back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 1c of the tables accompanying this release. Record level data back to 2014 also accompanies the monthly release.

Quarterly data back to 1990 is on the National Archives website.

Most industries saw decreases in company insolvency numbers in the 12 months to 30 November 2024. Larger sectors, those that made up at least 5% of insolvencies in the 12-month period to 30 November 2024, accounted for almost 80% of company insolvency numbers, with changes ranging from an 8% decrease in Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles to an 8% increase in Information and communication.

3. Company insolvency in Scotland

The annual number of insolvencies in Scotland in 2024 was similar to 2023 (1,236 compared to 1,234). In December 2024, there were 82 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, 24% lower than the number in December 2023. The total number of company insolvencies was comprised of 52 CVLs, 27 compulsory liquidations and three administrations. There were no CVAs or receivership appointments.

Legislation relating to company insolvency in Scotland is partly devolved. Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), Scotland’s insolvency service, administers the Register of Insolvencies, a publicly accessible statutory register regarding the insolvency of individuals and businesses in Scotland. The Register includes company liquidations and receiverships.

This statistical release presents the numbers of compulsory liquidations, CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments in Scotland based on their registration date at Companies House. Numbers therefore reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.

Historically, compulsory liquidations were the most common type of company insolvency in Scotland. However, since April 2020, numbers of CVLs have typically remained higher than numbers of compulsory liquidations.

Figure 7 shows the historical trend of company insolvencies in Scotland covering the past five years.

Figure 7: The total number of company insolvencies in Scotland was lower in December 2024 than in December 2023.

Monthly company insolvencies by type, Scotland, December 2019 to December 2024, not seasonally adjusted

Source: Companies House

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 4a of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file.

Further breakdowns of company insolvencies by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) are also presented to three-digit level in Table 4b of the tables accompanying this release.

More statistics can be found in the AiB (Scotland’s insolvency service) statistical release.

Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2024, there were three restructuring plans in Scotland. There were no moratoriums. The two procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

The total insolvency rate in Scotland in 2024 was 51.9 per 10,000 companies on the effective register, as shown in Figure 8. This was down by 1.8 from 2023.

Figure 8: The insolvency rate in Scotland decreased in 2024 compared to 2023.

12-month rolling insolvency rate per 10,000 companies on the effective register, January 2001 to December 2024, Scotland

Source: Companies House

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2014 can be found in Table 5 of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to January 2000, as well as record-level data back to 2014, can be found in the accompanying CSV file at the same link.

Quarterly data prior to 2000 can be found in the long-run company insolvencies CSV file.

More statistics can be found in the AiB (Scotland’s insolvency service) statistical release.

4. Company insolvency in Northern Ireland

The annual number of insolvencies in Northern Ireland in 2024 was 305, a 40% increase from 2023 (218 in total). In December 2024 there were 23 company insolvencies registered in Northern Ireland, 4% lower than in December 2023. The total number of company insolvencies was comprised of 17 CVLs, four compulsory liquidations, one CVA and one administration. There were no receivership appointments.

This statistical release presents the numbers of CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House. Therefore, numbers reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.

Figure 9: The number of company insolvencies in Northern Ireland was 4% lower in December 2024 than in December 2023.

Monthly company insolvencies by type, Northern Ireland, December 2019 to December 2024, not seasonally adjusted

Sources: Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (compulsory liquidations only); Companies House (all other insolvency procedures)

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2019 can be found in Table 6 of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to October 2009 (where available) can be found in the CSV file that also accompanies this release.

Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2024, there was one moratorium in Northern Ireland. There were no restructuring plans. The two procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

The total insolvency rate in 2024 in Northern Ireland was 36.2 per 10,000 companies on the effective register, as shown in Figure 10. This is an increase of 6.8 from the 12 months to December 2023.

Figure 10: The insolvency rate in Northern Ireland was higher in 2024 than in 2023.

12-month rolling insolvency rate per 10,000 companies on the effective register, January 2020 to December 2024, Northern Ireland

Sources: Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (compulsory liquidations only); Companies House (all other insolvency procedures)

Monthly numbers back to January 2021 and annual numbers back to 2019 can be found in Table 7 of the tables accompanying this release. The monthly series back to October 2010 (where available) can be found in the CSV file that also accompanies this release.

5. Data and methodology

5.1 Data sources

Company insolvency data were sourced from Companies House, except for compulsory liquidation data for England and Wales, which were sourced from the Insolvency Service administrative systems, and compulsory liquidation data for Northern Ireland, which were sourced from the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.

To calculate insolvency rates, Companies House data were used to determine the number of companies on the effective register in each month. These data are separately published by Companies House on the Gov.uk website on a quarterly basis. Rates for intermediate months are based on the register size from Companies House management information, which is subject to revision.

More information on the administrative systems used to compile insolvency statistics can be found in the accompanying Methodology and Quality document.

5.2 Methodology and data quality

Detailed methodology and quality information for these statistics can be found in the accompanying Methodology and Quality document.

The main quality and coverage issues to note:

1. Numbers are provided at a national (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) level only. Data on location is not provided, because address information held by the Insolvency Service relates to the address of the company on the Companies House register at the time of insolvency. This is often the address of an insolvency practitioner, a head office or a virtual office, which does not reflect the location at which the company traded before its insolvency.

2. It is a legal requirement that all formal insolvency procedures into which a company enters should be reported to the appropriate body. These statistics aim to be a complete record of registered company insolvencies. Solvent company closures such as members’ voluntary liquidations and dissolutions are not included in these statistics. Information on business closures in general can be found in the ONS Business demography publication.

3. Insolvency Service data for the most recent month were extracted approximately five working days after month end and may be revised in the future. In particular, some compulsory liquidations for the latest month may not yet have been entered onto the administrative system at the time of data extraction.

4. Industry breakdowns are reported one month in arrears. This is because for compulsory liquidations, the industry of the company may not be recorded until several weeks after the insolvency date.

5. Bulk creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) during the period 2016 to 2019 (see Glossary) have been removed from numbers presented in these statistics. Numbers with bulk CVLs included can be found in Table 1d of the accompanying tables.

Seasonal adjustment

Underlying data for these monthly statistics for England and Wales were adjusted using an ARIMA model where there was evidence of seasonality. The ARIMA model removes systematic calendar-related variation in the time series. This enables comparisons to be made between months and underlying trends in insolvency numbers to be determined. In accordance with the outcome of the April 2024 Seasonal Adjustment Review, compulsory liquidations, CVLs and administrations were all seasonally adjusted.

Seasonal adjustment in this publication typically results in numbers being adjusted by up to 10%. There are a few cases where the adjustment is larger. For example, compulsory liquidation numbers tend to be 20-30% lower during April, which often contains Easter. Therefore, when Easter is in April, the process of seasonal adjustment increases the April compulsory liquidation numbers by approximately 20-30% to correspond to the underlying trend.

For Scotland and Northern Ireland, only the unadjusted series have been presented, as agreed with the appropriate officials in the devolved administrations.

Rates of insolvency

Insolvency rates were calculated for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The total number of companies entering insolvency in each location during the previous twelve months was divided by the mean average number of all companies on the effective Companies House register in that location in the same twelve-month period.

5.3 Revisions

These statistics are subject to revisions, as set out in the published Revisions Policy. Revisions tend to be made when data is entered into administrative systems after the cut-off date for data extraction to produce the statistics. In addition, as the ARIMA model used is updated with additional data each month, seasonally adjusted numbers are revised in subsequent publications. Revisions are noted in the accompanying data tables, except those resulting from changes to the seasonal adjustment model.

6. Glossary

6.1 Key terms used within this statistical bulletin

Term	Definition
Administration	The objective of administration is to rescue the company as a going concern, or, if this is not possible, to obtain a better outcome for creditors than would be likely if the company were to be wound up. A licensed insolvency practitioner, ‘the administrator’, is appointed to manage a company’s affairs, business and property for the benefit of the creditors.
ARIMA model	Autoregressive integrated moving average, or ARIMA, is a model fitted to time-series data to understand the underlying trend or to forecast future data points. In this publication, ARIMA models with both non-seasonal and seasonal components are fit to insolvency data. The model removes the seasonal component of the data, including effects resulting from the time of year, as well as the varying number of trading days in different months. This allows month-to-month comparisons to be made.
Bulk creditors’ voluntary liquidation	IR35 rules are intended to prevent the avoidance of tax and National Insurance contributions using personal service companies and partnerships. Between April 2016 and early 2019, following changes to the IR35 rules and/or changes in VAT flat rate, some directors of personal service companies had cited these changes as the primary reason that their company’s activities had become unviable. This led to large numbers of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) among these companies, a phenomenon referred to as “bulk insolvencies”.
Company voluntary arrangement (CVA)	Company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) are another mechanism for business rescue. They are a voluntary means of repaying creditors some or all of what they are owed. Once approved by 75% or more of creditors, the arrangement is binding on all creditors. CVAs are supervised by licensed insolvency practitioners.
Compulsory liquidation	A winding-up order obtained from the court by a creditor, shareholder or director. See ‘Liquidation’ for details on the process.
Creditors’ voluntary liquidation (CVL)	Shareholders of a company can themselves pass a resolution that the company be wound up voluntarily. See ‘Liquidation’ for details on the process. Administrations which result in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation (CVL) are recorded separately by Companies House and are excluded from CVL figures, as they do not represent a new company entering into an insolvency procedure for the first time. These cases are only ever recorded as administrations.
Liquidation	Liquidation is a legal process in which a liquidator is appointed to ‘wind up’ the affairs of a limited company. The purpose of liquidation is to sell the company’s assets and distribute the proceeds to its creditors. At the end of the process, the company is dissolved – it ceases to exist. Statistics on compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations are presented in these statistics. A third type of winding up, members’ voluntary liquidation, does not involve insolvency. Therefore, members voluntary liquidations are not included here.
Moratorium	Moratoriums were introduced under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to give struggling businesses formal breathing space in which to explore rescue and restructuring options, free from creditor or other legal action. Except in certain circumstances, no insolvency proceedings can be instigated against the company during the moratorium period. A moratorium also prevents legal action being taken against a company without permission from the court.
Receivership appointments	Administrative receivership occurs when a creditor with a floating charge (often a bank) appoints a licensed insolvency practitioner to recover the money owed to them. Before 2000, receivership appointments could also involve non-insolvency procedures, such as those under the Law of Property Act 1925. The use of this procedure is restricted to certain types of companies, or to floating charges, created before September 2003.
Restructuring plan	New restructuring measures were introduced under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to support viable companies struggling with unmanageable debt obligations to restructure under a new procedure. They allow the court to sanction a plan that binds creditors to a restructuring plan if it is fair and equitable. Creditors vote on the plan, but the court can impose it on dissenting classes of creditors (‘cram down’) provided that the necessary conditions are met.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007)	Used in classifying business establishments and other statistical units by the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. Further information can be found on the ONS website.