Business insolvencies are trending upwards in Great Britain, and in Q3 2023 there were 6,306 business failures (on a non-seasonally adjusted basis), though future revisions are likely to bring this number up. If we focus on the retail sector specifically, there were 546 insolvencies over Q3 2023. Following a sustained period of forbearance as well as a large court backlog due to the Covid-19 pandemic, #insolvencies were fairly subdued numbering 917 in 2020, 960 in 2021, before surging to 1,901 in 2022.

If we assume trends stay the same, 2023 is likely to see upwards of 2,300 insolvencies. With interest rates expected to be held higher for longer, it is increasingly inevitable that 2024 will witness higher insolvencies still. But what can we say about the types of businesses going under? Since the start of 2021, one in two retail insolvencies were accounted for by Pure play or niche ('specialised') retail businesses.