Begbies Traynor Group

Key players in construction gathered for an important debate, sponsored by The Save Construction Initiative and Begbies Traynor Group and hosted by Watson Farley & Williams, exploring what can be done to tackle the industry’s mounting insolvency crisis and to disrupt the payment culture at the heart of it. 

The UK’s care home market is undergoing substantial evolution, presenting opportunities for investors amid growing demand and complex structural headwinds. While an ageing population intensifies pressure on the NHS with rising waiting lists and increased prevalence of chronic health conditions, it also drives significant investment appeal in the care sector.

The UK construction sector is grappling with persistent headwinds. Growth in construction business activity has softened to the slowest pace since June 2024, according to the S&P Global UK Construction PMI. Headline construction PMI fell to a six-month low of 53.3 in December.

The UK’s annual trade deficit narrowed by £14bn to £25.1bn in 2024, according to the latest ONS data. However, this masks a growing divergence between services and goods trade. Services exports remain a bright spot, while goods exports continue to decline, deepening the UK’s two-speed economy.

UK retailers are bracing for the cascading impact of recent Budget measures as rising wage cost pressures and weakening consumer confidence threaten to erode profits, squeeze margins and risk both store closures and possible insolvencies.

Less than three months after the Budget, critical financial distress climbs by 50% to 46,853 businesses

The UK’s for-profit care home sector is evolving into a sharply bifurcated industry. Legacy businesses are failing at an increasing rate, as exacting regulatory scrutiny and financial headwinds create a surge in involuntary closures and insolvencies.

Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) disputes do happen and those involving the following matters may be provided for in the agreed dispute resolution clauses:

Begbies Traynor Group (“Begbies Traynor” or the “Group”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Elaine Hanrahan as partner in its British Virgin Islands (BVI) office.

Bitcoin’s ascent to a fresh all-time high (ATH) to a whisker under $100,000 in November was fuelled by optimism surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, along with the Republican’s sweep of majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

In a bid to hold large organisations to account if they benefit from fraud, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) introduced a new corporate criminal offence of “failure to prevent fraud” (‘the offence’).

The UK Autumn Budget has intensified financial pressures on the private care home sector, already weakened by chronic underfunding and staffing shortages. Higher employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and a rise in the National Living Wage (NLW) will impose significant additional costs, threatening a fresh wave of closures.

Last week’s Budget introduces new cost pressures for low-wage sectors through higher employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), resulting in a disproportionate tax increase for employers of low-paid workers. Businesses will be unable to fully recoup these costs over time by squeezing wages, due to the coming rise in the National Living Wage (NLW).

Rock band Limp Bizkit’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) is a high-profile, decades-long contractual dispute that alleges deliberate royalty concealment, financial mismanagement, fraud and breach of contract by one of the world’s largest record labels.

632,756 UK businesses are in ‘significant’ financial distress, up 5.1% on the prior quarter (Q2 2024: 601,950) and 32.3% higher than Q3 2023 (478,176)