Three Companies Go Bust Every Day

649 firms collapse in six months as tax hikes bite. The outgoing Chancellor is claiming she’s “beaten the odds” and left Britain “strong” but new figures showing more than three companies are going bust every day, make a mockery of her victory lap at the Mansion House in London on Tuesday 14th July.

An analysis by insolvency specialists Kroll reveals 649 firms went into administration in the first half of 2026, up 6% on last year. This is the clearest evidence, if we couldn’t already see it for ourselves, yet that British business is buckling under the tax raids of the last two years.

REEVES RAISED MORE TAXES THAN ANY CHANCELLOR IN HISTORY

Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, says the impact of those record tax rises is that the outgoing occupants of numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street leave behind:

• a weaker labour market

• unemployment close to 5%

• over one million young people looking for employment, education or training

• falling private‑sector pay

• households squeezed by soaring costs of essentials

She also says that “The damaging tax rise was the only option; the big question for (the next) Chancellor is how to square that circle.”

BUSINESSES BEING CRUSHED BY TAXES AND COSTS

Employers say the Government’s policies have hammered them from every angle:

• Higher employer National Insurance

• Botched business rates reforms

• Inheritance tax on family firms

• Inflation‑busting minimum wage hikes

• Green levies

• New worker rights

The result is a wave of closures and thousands more hanging by a thread.

HOUSEHOLDS HIT TOO

Official figures show disposable household income fell 0.8% in the first quarter once inflation was factored in.

“THE ECONOMY IS STRONG”

Speaking at what will be her final Mansion House dinner, the outgoing chancellor said:

“Investment is up, productivity is up, wages are up… the British economy is strong.”

But the numbers tell a different story:

• Inflation up from 2% to 2.8%

• Unemployment up from 4.1% to 4.9%

• 155,000 fewer people in work

• Youth unemployment is surging

• Hiring costs are soaring

With oil prices spiking again due to Middle East conflict, things could get worse.

Britain’s economy is clearly struggling.

• Three companies go bust every day

• Taxes at record highs

• Youth unemployment rising

• Household incomes falling

• Businesses drowning in costs

• A “lost generation” feared

The new PM inherits a mess, and the next Chancellor has a mountain to climb. We need that person to understand that the only way to grow the economy is to support business, particularly the small and micro-ones that are the only chance of driving economic recovery.