The number of companies in Yorkshire filing for administration during the first nine months of the year has fallen by nearly a quarter, according to figures from Interpath Advisory. However, construction and manufacturing have faced a challenging year.
Analysis of notices in The Gazette shows there have been 75 administrations across Yorkshire in the first nine months of 2024, representing a fall of 22.9% when compared to last year’s figures (Q1 – Q3 2023: 97). For Q3 2024, the figures showed that administrations have fallen when compared to the same period last year, dropping from 35 to 27 administrations.
The figures also reveal that there remains fragility in the economy in certain sectors. The most impacted sectors in Yorkshire have been building & construction with 13 cases and industrial manufacturing (12 cases) between Q1 and Q3 2024, in line with national trends.
Nationally, there were 1,016 administrations across the UK between January and September 2024, in line with the corresponding figures for last year (January to September 2023 1,013 administrations).
The building & construction sector has been the most impacted by administrations nationally since the start of the year with 147 cases, followed by business services (130 administrations), industrial manufacturing (119 administrations) and retail (93 administrations). Together these sectors account for almost half (48.3%) of total administrations in the UK economy.
Commenting on the figures, James Clark, Managing Director and Head of the Yorkshire team at Interpath Advisory, said: “Yorkshire has bucked the national trend and seen cases fall, which is encouraging and pays testament to the resilience of our business community – in particular, retail and casual dining has fared much better than expected and has surprised a number of commentators with its resilience, but there are still real areas of distress in the economy, not least in construction and manufacturing, which have both suffered.
“Both have battled with a sustained price inflation and for construction businesses, they’ve had to square that with the prevalence of fixed price contracts that have tipped many into insolvency.
“We are also seeing a number of clients reach out for assistance dealing with issues under the relatively new Building Safety Act – another issue creating turbulent conditions for the construction sector as enforcement of remedial works takes centre stage, putting further strain on cash flow.
“Looking ahead, we expect administrations to be near to last year’s figures come December as some businesses struggle to respond to market conditions, but also as others find the pressure of growth too much to bear. At this point, it will be interesting to see whether the retail sector continues to weather the storm.
“Whatever position they are in, business leaders will be looking to the Budget at the end of this month for some stability and visibility so they can make better, more informed decisions to guide their organisations solvently through this fragile economic period.”
