Insolvencies Monthly Report January 2026

UK Insolvency Intelligence - January 2026

Monthly analysis of insolvency practitioner appointments recorded at Companies House. January 2026 saw a 2% decline in total appointments year-on-year, with Admin/CVAs rising while CVL volumes fell.

1,869 Total appointments
-2% vs January 2025
128 Admin / CVA
490 MVL
Published: February 2026 | Source: Companies House | Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

Spark Intel Research Team

Data analysis and market intelligence

Executive Summary

January 2026 recorded 1,869 total insolvency appointments, down from 1,902 in January 2025 - a decline of 33 appointments (-2%). The picture was mixed across appointment types:

  • Admin / CVA: 128 (up from 117, +11) - a meaningful increase in formal restructuring activity
  • MVL: 490 (up from 422, +68) - solvent wind-downs continued to rise
  • CVL / Other: 1,251 (down from 1,363, -112) - creditors' voluntary liquidations fell sharply

The rise in Admin/CVA appointments signals growing use of formal insolvency procedures for business rescue, while the drop in CVLs drove the overall decline. MVL growth reflects continued solvent company wind-down activity.

Sector Breakdown (Non-MVL)

Year-on-year comparison by sector for January 2026. Building construction, civil engineering, employment services, and human health all saw increases.

Insolvency appointments by sector - January 2025 vs January 2026
Sector Jan 2025 Jan 2026 Mvmt
Food & beverage services204200-4
Specialist construction126118-8
Retail trade125113-12
Building construction8394+11
Office & business support6761-6
Personal services (other)6354-9
IT programming / consulting5962+3
Wholesale trade7244-28
Head offices & consultancy5447-7
Real estate4150+9
Wholesale & retail trade5333-20
Employment services2233+11
Human health1319+6
Prof, scientific & tech3427-7
Land transport & pipelines3125-6
Manufacturing (metal)2416-8
Sports & recreation2019-1
Financial services excl ins2020-
Architecture & engineering1717-
Manufacturing (other)1916-3
Civil engineering1118+7
Music / TV / Film production614+8
Education1418+4
Building + Landscape services2812-16

Appointments by Firm - Top 25

Ranked by SPK Index score for January 2026. Comparative columns show Admin/CVA appointments only vs January 2025.

Top 25 insolvency firms by SPK Index - January 2026
# SPK Firm Total Admin/CVA Other MVL Jan 25 vs 25
1993FRP Advisory10316642317-1
2836Interpath269988+1
3699Begbies Traynor2087164378-1
4611Leonard Curtis6311361611-
5307RSM95222+3
6291SFP94563262+3
7246FTI Consulting11---+1
8233BDO103611+2
9216Quantuma4242996-2
10199KR844---+4
11190Alvarez & Marsal33--2+1
12164PKF Littlejohn523-1+1
12164KBL Advisory853-3+2
14149Opus2721694-2
15139Teneo32-14-2
16134McTear, Williams and Wood11335-+3
17133CG & Co14311-3-
18130Purnells1831141+2
19125EY31-2-+1
20111Arafino Advisory43-11+2
21106FTS Recovery141941-
22102Marshall Peters19217--+2
2388JT Maxwell28127-1-
2486Anderson Brookes42-375--
2585Kroll6213-+2

About the SPK Index: The SPK Index is a proprietary algorithm managed by Spark that ranks firms based on a weighted combination of appointment volume, complexity (by company size), and appointment type. A firm with fewer appointments but higher-complexity cases can outrank a firm with higher raw volume. Read the full methodology →

Appointments by Region

Top firms by SPK Index points in each UK region for January 2026.

01. North East

  1. Henderson Loggie3
  2. Grant Thornton3
  3. FRP Advisory3
  4. 180 Advisory Solutions3
  5. Aver Chartered Accountants2

02. North West

  1. Begbies Traynor31
  2. Leading Business Services15
  3. FRP Advisory8
  4. McTear, Williams and Wood7
  5. Opus3

03. Yorkshire / Humber

  1. Bailey Ahmad8
  2. Leading Business Services8
  3. Valentine7
  4. AABRS7
  5. FTS Recovery7

04. Midlands

  1. Henderson Loggie2
  2. MHA2
  3. Marshall Peters2
  4. Maxwell Davies Limited2
  5. Bridgestones2

05. East Midlands

  1. GS Insolvency & Restructuring1
  2. Robert Day & Co1
  3. Moore Recovery Limited1
  4. Currie Young1
  5. Moorfields Advisory1

06. East of England

  1. Panos Eliades Callender6
  2. Clarke Bell6
  3. S&W6
  4. Opus5
  5. Frost Group5

07. South East

  1. Marshall Peters2
  2. RMT1
  3. Finn Associates1
  4. DMC Recovery1
  5. Garner Advisory Limited1

08. South West

  1. Monahans4
  2. JT Maxwell4
  3. Clarke Bell3
  4. Quantuma3
  5. MVL Online3

09. London

  1. Begbies Traynor12
  2. FRP Advisory10
  3. KRE Corporate Recovery6
  4. RMT6
  5. Northpoint2

10. Wales

  1. Nexus Corporate Solutions1
  2. Undebt.co.uk1
  3. Simply Corporate1
  4. KR81
  5. Bailams & Co1

11. Scotland

  1. RMT1
  2. Oliver Elliot1
  3. Kingsbridge Corporate Solutions1
  4. Undebt.co.uk1
  5. Ballard Business Recovery1

12. Northern Ireland

  1. Keenan Corporate Finance3
  2. KPMG3
  3. McAleer Jackson1
  4. Rachel Fowler Advisory1
  5. McKeague Morgan1

Notable Appointments

Selected high-profile insolvency appointments from January 2026, ranked by turnover. Financial details from most recently filed accounts at Companies House.

Notable insolvency appointments - January 2026
Company IP Firm Type Region Turnover Staff Lenders
Petrofac Facilities ManagementTeneoCVAScotland£653.6m2,427Natwest
Batt Cables (BCL Realisations)EYAdminSouth East£202.7m290Chiltern, HSBC, PNC Financial
The Factory ShopInterpathAdminNorth West£117.5m1,862Aurelius Finance, Barclays
C.F. BoothInterpathAdminYorkshire£113.6m256IGF, Natwest
Consumer Energy SolutionsKR8AdminWales£81.1m140Alter Domus Trustees
Gunning Transmission (GTDS)InterpathAdminSouth East£96.5m73HSBC
Revolution Bars GroupFTI ConsultingAdminLondon£68.1m1,438Natwest
Farwig (Russell & Bromley)InterpathAdminLondon£62.9m481Natwest
Moores Furniture GroupInterpathAdminYorkshire£58.2m490Bibby Finance, Natwest
E.J. Taylor & SonsFRP AdvisoryAdminSouth East£41.1m140Barclays, Wedo Finance

Financial details from most recent publicly filed accounts at Companies House. Lender information from charge register. Staff figures from last filing.

SPK Index - Regional Breakdown

Top firms by SPK Index score in each UK region for January 2026.

01. North East

  1. Leonard Curtis46
  2. KRE Corporate Recovery40
  3. RMT36
  4. FRP Advisory31
  5. Begbies Traynor31

02. North West

  1. Leonard Curtis469
  2. FRP Advisory242
  3. CG & Co123
  4. KBL Advisory113
  5. Interpath112

03. Yorkshire / Humber

  1. Interpath728
  2. PKF Littlejohn111
  3. Leonard Curtis81
  4. RSM73
  5. FRP Advisory71

04. Midlands

  1. FRP Advisory163
  2. BDO119
  3. PKF Littlejohn117
  4. Begbies Traynor83
  5. PwC75

05. East Midlands

  1. BDO61
  2. Forvis Mazars42
  3. Frost Group26
  4. Begbies Traynor22
  5. FTS Recovery17

06. East of England

  1. McTear, Williams and Wood124
  2. FRP Advisory68
  3. Begbies Traynor60
  4. Leading Business Services31
  5. Opus10

07. South East

  1. FRP Advisory321
  2. Quantuma215
  3. Begbies Traynor164
  4. FTI Consulting154
  5. EY120

08. South West

  1. Begbies Traynor100
  2. Kirks Insolvency75
  3. Quantuma59
  4. Leonard Curtis59
  5. FRP Advisory57

09. London

  1. FTI Consulting2,183
  2. FRP Advisory407
  3. Interpath320
  4. Alvarez & Marsal190
  5. SFP155

10. Wales

  1. KR866
  2. Begbies Traynor49
  3. McAlister & Co21
  4. FRP Advisory14
  5. Purnells11

11. Scotland

  1. Teneo74
  2. Begbies Traynor46
  3. Revolution RTI26
  4. Interpath19
  5. FRP Advisory16

12. Northern Ireland

  1. KPMG105
  2. RIADA Capital Partners40
  3. Keenan Corporate Finance7
  4. HM Chartered Accountants3
  5. SCC Chartered Accountants3

Access the Full Report

Want the complete data including IP-level detail, extended firm rankings, and lender charge analysis? Get in touch with the Spark team.

Contact the Spark Team

Methodology

This report analyses insolvency practitioner appointments recorded at Companies House. Appointments are classified into three categories: Admin/CVA (administrations and company voluntary arrangements), MVL (members' voluntary liquidations - solvent wind-downs), and Other (creditors' voluntary liquidations, compulsory liquidations, and other proceedings).

Where a company group is involved in insolvency proceedings within the reporting period, the group is treated as a single event. Multiple appointments relating to the same company within the same period are not counted separately.

The SPK Index is a proprietary algorithm managed by Spark that ranks firms and practitioners based on a weighted combination of appointment volume, complexity (by company size), and type of appointment.

Due to GDPR restrictions, individual IP names are not disclosed without consent.

Read the full methodology →  |  Definitions →

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About This Data

This report is produced by the Spark Intel Research Team using insolvency data from Companies House and the Insolvency Service. All source data is publicly available under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

For full details on how this data is collected, classified, and analysed, see the Methodology, Data Sources, Definitions, and Caveats pages.

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