Insolvency Intelligence March 2026 Published April 2026

UK Insolvency Intelligence
March 2026

3,703 total appointments in March 2026, down 8% year-on-year. Administration and CVA activity rose +18 against March 2025, while MVL volumes fell sharply. FRP Advisory leads the SPK Index for the second consecutive month.

3,703

Total Appointments

-8% vs Mar 2025

183

Admin / CVA

+18 vs Mar 2025

1,704

MVL

-315 vs Mar 2025

1,816

CVL / Other

-32 vs Mar 2025

Summary Sectors Firms Notable SPK by Region

Executive Summary

UK insolvency activity continued to ease in March 2026, with 3,703 total appointments recorded - a decline of 329 (-8%) against March 2025's 4,032. The fall was driven almost entirely by a sharp reduction in Members' Voluntary Liquidations (MVLs), which dropped 315 to 1,704. CVL and other appointments were broadly flat, down just 32 to 1,816.

Administration and CVA appointments were the standout positive, rising 18 to 183 - the highest monthly total in the 2026 series to date and a continuation of the upward trend seen in January and February. On a cumulative 2026 basis (January-March combined), Admin/CVA appointments total 421, running +19 ahead of the same period in 2025 (402).

Cumulative 2026 total appointments stand at 7,867, down 8% on the same three-month period in 2025 (8,546). The overall picture is one of lower MVL-driven volume against a backdrop of modestly rising complex insolvency activity.

Insolvency appointment summary - March 2025 vs March 2026
Type Mar 2025 Mar 2026 Mvmt 2025 YTD 2026 YTD YTD Mvmt
Admin / CVA165183+18402421+19
MVL2,0191,704-3153,2262,847-379
CVL / Other1,8481,816-324,9184,599-319
Total4,0323,703-3298,5467,867-679

Excludes Official Receiver and subsidiary appointments. YTD = January to March cumulative.

  • FRP Advisory leads SPK Index at 2,745 points - 188 total appointments including 34 Admin/CVA, up 14 on March 2025. Consistent across all regions.
  • Begbies Traynor highest by volume at 388 appointments - including 27 Admin/CVA, up 5 on March 2025. Strong in London, South East, and Scotland.
  • Admin/CVA momentum building - 183 appointments in March is the highest single month in the 2026 series. On a YTD basis, complex appointments are running +5% ahead of 2025.
  • Notable appointments include National Car Parks (PwC), London Bridging (FRP Advisory), and Drac Global (BDO) - spanning transport, bridging finance, and manufacturing.

Sector Breakdown (Non-MVL)

Cumulative year-to-date comparison by sector for January-March 2026 versus January-March 2025 (non-MVL appointments). Real estate, human health, civil engineering, and music/TV/film production all showed increases in 2026.

Insolvency appointments by sector (non-MVL) - YTD Jan-Mar 2025 vs Jan-Mar 2026
Sector 2025 YTD 2026 YTD Mvmt
Food & beverage services733706-27
Specialist construction528484-44
Retail trade444413-31
Building construction337327-10
Office & business support250223-27
Personal services (other)232202-30
Wholesale trade255188-67
IT programming / consulting189178-11
Head offices & consultancy162164+2
Real estate138161+23
Wholesale & retail trade149138-11
Employment services115113-2
Human health6393+30
Prof, scientific & tech9988-11
Land transport & pipelines10485-19
Financial services excl ins7483+9
Manufacturing (metal)6479+15
Sports & recreation7875-3
Architecture & engineering6867-1
Music / TV / Film production4058+18
Civil engineering3755+18
Manufacturing (other)7153-18
Building + Landscape services7556-19
Education5451-3

Appointments by Firm - Top 25

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

Top 25 insolvency firms by SPK Index - March 2026
# SPK Firm Total Admin/CVA Other MVL Mar 25 vs 25
12,745FRP Advisory18834837120+14
22,065Begbies Traynor3882719216922+5
3660Leonard Curtis1596619215-9
4638PwC2335152+1
5589Interpath2410775+5
6417SFP172368101-+3
7400Quantuma827453011-4
8272Opus69337295-2
9271FTI Consulting44--1+3
10268Grant Thornton103523-
11229BDO2141164-
12199Coots And Boots6321-+3
13198KRE Corporate Recovery2351084+1
14165Leading Business Services83-4538--
15163KR8734-3-
16150Alix Partners11---+1
17138Alvarez & Marsal33--1+2
18138JT Maxwell35134-3-2
19132Marshall Peters272223-+2
20128FTS Recovery31218114-2
21125RSM92347-5
22123Frost Group67-265--
23118Turpin Barker Armstrong142111-+2
2489Valentine1911261-
2581Redman Nichols Butler1716101-

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 →

Notable Appointments

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

Notable insolvency appointments - March 2026
Company IP Firm Type Region Turnover Staff Lenders
National Car Parks LtdPwCAdminYorks / Humber£186.6m750Barclays, Novuna, Rothschild
London Bridging LimitedFRP AdvisoryAdminLondon-1-
Mars Bridging LimitedCoots and Boots / Begbies TraynorAdminLondon-1-
Drac Global LimitedBDOAdminMidlands£37.3m206Natwest, RBS Invoice Finance
WCM Investments LtdAlvarez & MarsalAdminSouth East£29.5m204WhiteOak
Shaftec Holdco LimitedFRP AdvisoryAdminNorth West£15.9m114Virgin Money
HH No. 1 LimitedPwCAdminYorks / Humber£15.1m-U.S. Bank Trustees
Hodson Developments (Ashford) LtdGrant ThorntonAdminLondon£1.5m-Solutus Advisors
Access Community TrustFRP AdvisoryAdminEast of England£5.9m163Natwest
Halifax RLFC (Trading) LtdIdeal Corporate SolutionsAdminNorth West-33-

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 March 2026.

01. North East

  1. Begbies Traynor41
  2. FRP Advisory31
  3. KRE Corporate Recovery7
  4. RMT4
  5. SFP4

02. North West

  1. Leonard Curtis72
  2. Begbies Traynor44
  3. FRP Advisory44
  4. Anderson Brookes23
  5. AMS Business Recovery19

03. Yorkshire / Humber

  1. Begbies Traynor49
  2. FRP Advisory43
  3. Clark Business Recovery19
  4. XL Business Solutions17
  5. Leonard Curtis16

04. Midlands

  1. Butcher Woods30
  2. Begbies Traynor26
  3. Leonard Curtis14
  4. PwC14
  5. MB Insolvency13

05. East Midlands

  1. Begbies Traynor25
  2. Frost Group23
  3. FRP Advisory14
  4. CFS Restructuring6
  5. Opus5

06. East of England

  1. Begbies Traynor90
  2. FRP Advisory47
  3. Leading Business Services39
  4. Parker Andrews14
  5. BRI Business Recovery & Insolvency13

07. South East

  1. Begbies Traynor113
  2. FRP Advisory78
  3. Quantuma41
  4. SFP35
  5. Leonard Curtis34

08. South West

  1. Begbies Traynor32
  2. Kirks Insolvency14
  3. SFP12
  4. Monahans11
  5. Undebt.co.uk11

09. London

  1. Begbies Traynor100
  2. FRP Advisory75
  3. SFP75
  4. MVL Online21
  5. EY21

10. Wales

  1. Begbies Traynor19
  2. Stones & Co12
  3. McAlister & Co10
  4. Leonard Curtis7
  5. SFP7

11. Scotland

  1. Begbies Traynor28
  2. Johnston Carmichael17
  3. Quantuma13
  4. AAB12
  5. Opus9

12. Northern Ireland

  1. McKeague Morgan19
  2. McAleer Jackson6
  3. McCambridge Duffy4
  4. Begbies Traynor3
  5. Deloitte3

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