James Hawksworth, restructuring advisory partner at RSM, added: “In the short term, rising employment costs could really squeeze larger players, as with fewer subcontractors, they have less flexibility to grow their workforce to ensure delivery of projects and manage their cash flow.

“As such, we expect to see a knock-on impact for subcontractors across the sector, which may unfortunately lead to more distress for some businesses stretched by tight margins and project delays.  

“This is reflected in the number of HMRC and creditor-led winding up petitions, which remains high for the fourth consecutive month.” 

Monthly insolvencies in 2024/25 

Jan 2025: 306 (2024: 306)  

Feb 2025: 368 (2024: 355)  

Mar 2025: 376 (2024: 315)   

Apr 2025: 324 (2024: 404)   

May 2025: Unavailable (2024: 360)     

Jun 2025: Unavailable (2024: 400)  

Jul 2025: Unavailable (2024: 343)   

Aug 2025: Unavailable (2024: 329)  

Sep 2025: Unavailable (2024: 292)  

Oct 2025: Unavailable (2024: 320)  

Nov 2025: Unavailable (2024: 320)  

Dec 2025: Unavailable (2024: 294) 

Smaller, specialist firms continue to be overrepresented in the months preceding May this year, with 202 failing out of 324 in April, 202 failing out of 376 in March, 201 out of 368 in February, 171 out of 306 in January, 174 out of 294 in December last year, 185 out of 320 in November, and so on.  

This trend is consistent with similar results reported last year, while construction firms in the UK have gone under at the highest rate in a decade 

“The data reflects the persistent challenges, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors, and highlights that the financing position of many businesses remains fragile,” said David Kelly, head of insolvency at PwC. 

The total number of registered companies in England and Wales that became insolvent across all sectors in May 2025 was 2,238, 8 per cent higher than in April (2,074) and 15 per cent higher than May last year (1,946). 

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