Yorkshire administrations fall but construction and manufacturing suffer
The number of Yorkshire companies filing for administration during the first nine months of the year fell by nearly a quarter but construction and manufacturing have faced a challenging year, according to figures.
Analysis of notices in The Gazette by Interpath Advisory showed there were 75 administrations across Yorkshire in the first nine months of 2024, a fall of 22.9 per cent when compared to 97 for the same period in 2023.
In July, August and September, administrations fell when compared to the same period last year, dropping from 35 to 27 administrations.
The figures also revealed that there remained fragility in the economy in certain sectors. The most impacted sectors in Yorkshire have been building and construction with 13 cases and 12 cases in industrial manufacturing 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. From January to September 2023 there were 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 with 130 administrations. There were 119 administrations in industrial manufacturing and 93 retail administrations. Together these sectors account for almost half (48.3 per cent) of total administrations in the UK economy.
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.”
He added: “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.”