Companies House crackdown: 11,500 firms struck off July 17, 2025 Over 11,000 UK firms have been struck off the Companies House register over the past year following a coordinated crackdown on corporate structures suspected of facilitating fraud, money laundering and other economic crime. The operation, led by the National Economic Crime Centre and supported by the National Crime Agency, Companies House, HMRC, and several UK [...]
Government calls for investigation as Lindsey refinery owner folds July 1, 2025 The government has called for an urgent investigation after the group behind one of Britain’s largest oil refineries collapsed into administration, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. State Oil – the parent company of Prax Group, which owns the Lindsey refinery in North Lincolnshire – appointed administrators on Monday. A separate winding-up order has also [...]
Retail and construction lead insolvencies as UK firms in ‘perilous position’ June 20, 2025 Wholesale and retail traders and construction firms accounted for nearly a third of all insolvencies seen in the 12 months to April. Data published by the Insolvency Service has pointed to a further concerning trend in the UK economy as the number of companies insolvencies in May grew eight per cent month-on-month. The number of [...]
Rob Cross: Darts star banned as director over unpaid tax of £450,000 June 5, 2025 Darts star Rob Cross has been banned from being a company director for five years after his company failed to pay almost half a million pounds in tax. Cross, who won the World Championship in 2018 and is one of the leading names on the elite PDC tour, owed HMRC £465,403 when his company went [...]
Credit Suisse seeks $440m Greensill Capital losses from SoftBank June 4, 2025 Four years after Greensill Capital collapsed, Swiss lender Credit Suisse's $440m legal battle against SoftBank is set for showdown at London's High Court
Thames Water: What next after KKR walks? June 3, 2025 Thames Water was dealt a crushing blow this morning after its preferred bidder, the US private equity giant KKR, abruptly withdrew from its pursuit of the embattled utility. The decision leaves the UK’s largest water supplier without a buyer and puts it back on the brink of administration. It follows just a week after it [...]
Retail and graduate job vacancies continue to plummet May 27, 2025 Retail and graduate vacancies fell further in April despite overall improvement in the number of available UK jobs. UK vacancies dipped 0.95 per cent in April to 862,876, but annual growth remained positive at 1.02 per cent, according to Adzuna’s latest jobs report. Average advertised salaries hit a new record of £42,278 – up 0.75 [...]
Insolvency levels hit highest level in eight months in Awful April May 20, 2025 April insolvency levels soared to their highest level in in eight months, official data has shown, reflecting businesses’ helplessness in the face of higher employment costs and the looming threat of President Trump’s tariffs. Over 2,000 companies collapsed last month, with most owners filing for voluntary liquidation and some 105 firms going into administration. If [...]
Construction industry ‘not expected to recover’ in 2025, building supplier Lords says May 8, 2025 The UK construction industry is unlikely to recover before the end of the year, one of Britain’s biggest building materials suppliers has said, as firms wrestle with rising taxes and increased uncertainty. London-listed Lords said it was continuing to focus on delivering efficiencies to deal with cost pressures and “an increasingly onerous regulatory environment” after [...]
UK construction crumbles in April as ‘bumpy ride’ continues May 7, 2025 UK construction endured another month of collapsing output in April, new research has suggested, in signs that a turnaround in the sector is still distant. The sector has now seen a decline in output over four consecutive months, according to S&P Global’s newest purchasing managers’ index (PMI). Civil engineering remained the weakest area of construction [...]