Hospitality insolvencies climbs for a third time in July

This marks the highest monthly figure since November 2024.

Accommodation and food services insolvencies rose by 5% from 306 in June to 327 in July, the highest monthly figure since November 2024, government figures revealed.

Year-on-year insolvencies were also up from 323 in July 2024.

It also represented the third consecutive monthly rise – a milestone not surpassed since prior to the current data-set’s starting point in January 2022. 

“The continued uptick in insolvencies is a worrying trend, but one we have been forecasting for several months now. The leisure and hospitality sector has had a difficult year, with higher staff costs and rising inflation continuing to bare down on businesses already struggling with low consumer confidence,” Saxon Moseley, partner and head of leisure and hospitality at audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, said.

Moseley said many operators are now in survival mode, warning that the hospitality sector – a major employer and cornerstone of the UK economy – has become a growing economic headache for the Chancellor.

He added that overhauling the business rates system and helping the industry absorb recent tax increases could ease pressure on operators, keep more businesses solvent and enable future job investment.

In August, job vacancies in the accommodation and food services industry rose for the first time in a year, reaching 78,000 in August, up from 74,000 in July.