Company insolvencies fall 49% in Feb

The number of company insolvencies across England and Wales has fallen to 686 for February 2021, a year-on-year decline of 49%.

With 591 CVLs, 33 compulsory liquidations, 56 administrations, and six CVAs, the total number of insolvencies for the period was the lowest figure seen in at least two years.

Breaking the year-on-year results down further, compulsory liquidations fell 86% from February 2020, CVLs declined 38%, CVAs fell 68%, and there were 62% fewer administrations in the period.

The figures in Scotland and Northern Ireland have been revealed separately due to the fact that the former’s insolvency legislation is “partly devolved”, while the latter is governed by “separate, but broadly similar, legislation” to England and Wales.

While total company insolvencies in Scotland did fall 70% year-on-year for February 2021 to 26, this represented a slight uptick from January’s 23 insolvencies.

A similar pattern occurred in Northern Ireland, where registered company insolvencies fell 81% from February 2020 levels, but increased from three in January 2021 to five in February 2021.

As for individual insolvencies, both bankruptcies and debt relief orders in England and Wales fell 42% year-on-year to 898 and 1,389 respectively.

The Insolvency Service said the decline is “likely to be partly driven by government measures put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic”.