UK Insolvency Index: what companies look like before they fail
Every corporate insolvency notice published in The London Gazette, matched by K2 to the company's Companies House profile and its last filed accounts. The index shows what was already on the public record when each company first appeared in the Gazette.
Key findings: Of 8,877 companies with a distress notice on our record, 42% had already filed a balance sheet showing negative net assets (of 7,120 with filed figures). The median set of accounts was 19 months old at the first notice, and 40% of companies had accounts overdue at Companies House. The median company was 8.6 years old; 10% were under three years old.
What these companies looked like before insolvency
Based on 8,877 companies with a distress notice on our record (solvent members' voluntary liquidations excluded), using each company's Companies House profile and last filed accounts.
- Negative net assets at last filing
- 42%
- of 7,120 with filed figures
- Age of last accounts at first notice
- 19 months
- median
- Accounts overdue at Companies House
- 40%
- of 8,806 profiles
- Company age at first notice
- 8.6 yrs
- median · 10% under 3 years
Median total assets in the last filed accounts: £126k. Figures are the companies' own filings and often predate the insolvency by a year or more.
By sector
| Sector | Companies | Negative net assets | Accounts age (median) | Accounts overdue | Company age (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 1,580 | 34% | 18 mo | 41% | 8.3 yrs |
| Retail & Wholesale | 1,417 | 43% | 19 mo | 40% | 8.6 yrs |
| Hospitality & Food Service | 1,256 | 58% | 19 mo | 41% | 6.3 yrs |
| Professional Services | 900 | 33% | 18 mo | 36% | 9.9 yrs |
| Manufacturing | 685 | 41% | 18 mo | 35% | 12.8 yrs |
| Technology & Media | 495 | 40% | 18 mo | 35% | 10.1 yrs |
| Real Estate | 458 | 44% | 18 mo | 38% | 8.5 yrs |
| Transport & Logistics | 336 | 38% | 19 mo | 40% | 8.1 yrs |
| Health & Social Care | 276 | 31% | 18 mo | 35% | 10.2 yrs |
| Financial Services | 238 | 27% | 20 mo | 49% | 8.5 yrs |
| Education | 157 | 50% | 16 mo | 30% | 10.4 yrs |
| Agriculture | 29 | 44% | 17 mo | 32% | 8.4 yrs |
By region
| Region | Companies | Negative net assets | Accounts age (median) | Accounts overdue | Company age (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 2,065 | 42% | 19 mo | 40% | 8.6 yrs |
| The North West | 1,356 | 39% | 18 mo | 39% | 8.0 yrs |
| The South East | 940 | 40% | 18 mo | 38% | 10.3 yrs |
| The East of England | 876 | 43% | 18 mo | 39% | 9.2 yrs |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 768 | 40% | 18 mo | 38% | 8.3 yrs |
| The West Midlands | 719 | 42% | 19 mo | 39% | 8.4 yrs |
| The East Midlands | 518 | 43% | 19 mo | 42% | 8.4 yrs |
| The South West | 494 | 45% | 18 mo | 36% | 9.1 yrs |
| Scotland | 449 | 42% | 18 mo | 36% | 8.5 yrs |
| Wales | 315 | 41% | 20 mo | 47% | 7.8 yrs |
| The North East | 229 | 40% | 18 mo | 38% | 8.9 yrs |
| Northern Ireland | 171 | 48% | 24 mo | 62% | 10.6 yrs |
By company age at first notice
| Company age | Companies | Negative net assets | Accounts age (median) | Accounts overdue | Company age (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 years | 405 | 43% | 10 mo | 17% | 1.5 yrs |
| 2-5 years | 1,588 | 43% | 18 mo | 35% | 3.5 yrs |
| 5-10 years | 3,132 | 44% | 19 mo | 44% | 7.4 yrs |
| Over 10 years | 3,782 | 39% | 19 mo | 41% | 15.7 yrs |
By size (last filed total assets)
| Total assets | Companies | Negative net assets | Accounts age (median) | Accounts overdue | Company age (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under £100k | 3,209 | 54% | 18 mo | 36% | 8.1 yrs |
| £100k-£500k | 2,208 | 36% | 19 mo | 38% | 9.4 yrs |
| £500k-£2m | 1,097 | 26% | 19 mo | 36% | 10.3 yrs |
| Over £2m | 607 | 21% | 20 mo | 39% | 11.3 yrs |
Methodology
- • Population: companies named in a corporate insolvency notice in The London Gazette since K2 began matching notices to Companies House records in July 2026. Solvent members' voluntary liquidations are excluded because they are planned closures of companies that can pay their debts in full.
- • First notice: the date of the company's earliest distress notice on our record.
- • Negative net assets: liabilities exceeded assets in the last accounts filed before the notice. The base is companies whose accounts could be read; companies with no accounts, paper-only filings or unreadable filings are excluded rather than counted as "no".
- • Accounts age: the gap between the balance sheet date of the last filed accounts and the first notice.
- • Accounts overdue: as reported on the company's Companies House profile when K2 retrieved it.
- • Small and micro-entity accounts are unaudited. Group accounts can include subsidiaries. Figures describe the companies' own filings and are not a valuation or credit assessment.
Journalists and researchers may cite this page as "K2 Business Partners, UK Insolvency Index", with a link. For the underlying weekly volumes see insolvency trends and the monthly reports.
UK distress right now
corporate distress notices in The Gazette in the week of 5 October 2026 (1,198 the week before)
distress notices in the last 12 months, down 4.3% on the 12 months before
Most notices, last 90 days
- Construction2,427
- Retail & Wholesale2,107
- Hospitality & Food Service1,970
- Professional Services1,193
Source: K2's analysis of every corporate insolvency notice published in The London Gazette, excluding solvent members' voluntary liquidations. Figures count notices, not companies: one insolvency typically produces several notices, so they are not comparable with official Insolvency Service case statistics. See the weekly insolvency trends, the UK Insolvency Index and the latest notices.
Is your own business showing the same warning signs?
Falling margins, stretched creditors, overdue filings and HMRC arrears usually appear months before a Gazette notice. Directors who act at that stage keep far more options open, from an informal turnaround to a CVA or restructuring plan.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.