Insolvency courts report surge in wake of Reeves’s tax raid
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Compulsory liquidations of UK companies hit a decade-high last year following a late surge in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s record tax raid in the Budget, official figures show. The courts ordered 3,230 companies to stop trading in 2024 because they could not pay their debts, up by 14pc year-on-year and the highest total on record since 2014, according to figures from HMRC.
This followed a surge in December, when the number of monthly compulsory liquidations hit 273, up 53pc year-on-year. British businesses have been hammered by high interest rates and the cost of living crisis, with the total number of company insolvencies in 2023 surpassing 25,000, the highest total since 1993.
Overall company insolvencies fell by 5pc in 2024 to 23,872 as inflation cooled and the Bank of England started to cut interest rates. But the jump in compulsory liquidations shows warning signs are flashing red again, as companies grapple with the fallout from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s record tax-raising Budget in October.
This included a £25bn increase in employer National Insurance contributions, which business groups have warned will hammer profits and hiring. Read the latest updates below. That’s all for today on this blog. For our latest news and comment on the economy and business, do click through to our main Business section.
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