New reports suggest the UK job market is “floundering”, as businesses continue to hold back on recruitment amid economic instability and mounting operational costs. With increases to National Insurance, the Minimum Wage, and the National Living Wage scheduled from April, companies are set to face additional financial strain, potentially forcing some to make difficult decisions in the coming months.
New data from Liquidation Centre highlights the UK locations most affected by business closures, using official data from the Insolvency Service and the ONS. The findings pinpoint the country’s liquidation hotspots, revealing a growing divide between regions. Richard Hunt, Director at Liquidation Centre, gives his thoughts on what these trends could mean for local economies, high streets, and jobs.
Key Findings:
- Norwich, in the East of England, records the highest business liquidation rate nationwide — and early 2026 figures suggest the situation is worsening.
- Chorley and Burnley take second and third place, with liquidation rates of 20.55% and 12.03%.
- Overall, the North West has the highest regional liquidation rate at 3.26%, with several of its towns appearing in the UK’s top 10.
The UK’s Worst Places to Run a Business
Newly compiled data reveals several smaller towns recording some of the highest business failure rates in the country, with Norwich emerging as the UK’s top hotspot for company liquidations.
| Rank | Local Authority | Number of registered companies | Liquidated companies | Liquidation rate (%) |
| 1 | Norwich | 14,807 | 3,446 | 23.27% |
| 2 | Chorley | 9,284 | 1,908 | 20.55% |
| 3 | Burnley | 5,263 | 633 | 12.03% |
| 4 | Blaby | 8,249 | 690 | 8.36% |
| 5 | Darlington | 6,278 | 518 | 8.25% |
| 6 | Brentwood | 9,202 | 746 | 8.11% |
| 7 | Bury | 18,994 | 1,516 | 7.98% |
| 8 | Dundee City | 9,937 | 778 | 7.83% |
| 9 | Oldham | 17,773 | 1,352 | 7.61% |
| 10 | Swansea | 13,697 | 992 | 7.24% |
Norwich – 23.27% liquidation rate (3,446 businesses)
Norwich ranks as the worst‑affected area, with a liquidation rate of 23.27%. Out of 14,807 registered companies, 3,446 have gone into liquidation, meaning almost one in four businesses has closed this way. The city saw its highest number of liquidations in 2025 (805), while the steepest year‑on‑year rise occurred in 2021, likely a hangover from the pandemic. With 311 liquidations already recorded in 2026, the city may be on course for another challenging year.
Chorley – 20.55% liquidation rate (1,908 businesses)
Chorley sits just behind Norwich with a 20.55% liquidation rate and 1,908 business closures. The data suggests smaller local economies may be particularly sensitive to rising operating costs and weaker consumer demand. Chorley experienced its highest volume of liquidations in 2025 (596), and in the first part of 2026 alone has already recorded 186 closures.
Burnley – 12.03% liquidation rate (633 businesses)
Burnley ranks third, showing a liquidation rate of 12.03% and 633 companies folding. The town recorded 184 liquidations in 2025, and with 39 already logged for 2026, current trends suggest that Burnley could exceed 200 liquidations this year, potentially its worst year on record.
The North West as a whole continues to feel the pressure, as rising costs push many firms to the edge. With a regional liquidation rate of 3.26%, it now has the highest closure rate in the UK. A full breakdown of regional performance is available in the complete dataset.
Blaby – 8.36% liquidation rate (690 businesses)
In fourth place is Blaby, recording an 8.36% liquidation rate. Of the 8,249 registered businesses in this Leicestershire district, 690 have gone into liquidation. While lower than the top three areas, the figures still highlight the widespread financial hurdles facing UK firms.
Expert Comment
Richard Hunt, Director at Liquidation Centre, discusses what the data means for communities and local high streets:
“These figures show just how tough the environment has become for businesses across the UK, particularly in smaller towns. When companies enter liquidation this has a real visible impact on the local economy, especially on high streets. When businesses close their doors, it creates empty shop fronts, fewer jobs, and reduced footfall for other businesses. Over time, that makes it harder for the rest of the high street to survive.”
“With costs set to rise in April, including National Insurance, the Minimum Wage, and the National Living Wage, it’s more important than ever for directors to keep a close eye on cash flow, manage overheads carefully, and act early. Many business failures happen not because the warning signs aren’t there, but because tough decisions are left too late. By regularly checking stock, pricing, and staffing, businesses can respond quickly when numbers start slipping and give themselves a better chance of staying profitable. In this uncertain climate, being proactive can make all the difference.”
Methodology:
- Liquidation Centre conducted this study to identify and analyse the most and least suitable locations to run a business in the UK. To achieve this, data was sourced from the Free Company Data product published by the UK government, which provides year-on-year information for all registered companies. In total, ~5.5 million businesses were analysed, with data dating back to 2016.
- To support this, the Business Demography UK dataset was also used to categorise successful businesses across different broad sectors.
- The raw dataset contains various business registration metrics for each company registered in the UK, including the registered address. To derive location-level data, such as region and local authority, postcodes were geocoded using Postcode.io, a free UK service that converts postcodes into geographic coordinates for all the registered companies.
- To associate geocoded companies with regions and local authorities, two separate shapefiles were used, one for each category. These were then spatially joined to calculate aggregated statistics at both the regional and local authority levels.
- To rank the aggregated data, the liquidation rate was calculated based on the total number of businesses and the number of companies with the following statuses:
- statuses = [‘In Administration’, ‘ADMINISTRATIVE RECEIVER’, ‘VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT / ADMINISTRATIVE RECEIVER’, ‘Liquidation’, ‘In Administration/Administrative Receiver’, ‘ADMINISTRATION ORDER’.
- statuses = [‘In Administration’, ‘ADMINISTRATIVE RECEIVER’, ‘VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT / ADMINISTRATIVE RECEIVER’, ‘Liquidation’, ‘In Administration/Administrative Receiver’, ‘ADMINISTRATION ORDER’.
- Data for “active businesses (2019–2024)” and “business deaths (2019–2024)” for each defined category were extracted from the Business Demography dataset. Categories were then ranked using the active-to-death ratio to identify the best and worst types of businesses to run in the UK.
- Caveats:
- The main dataset does not include exact liquidation dates or the date when a liquidation claim was raised. Instead, the liquidation date was approximated using the “ConfStmtNextDueDate” field for companies with a liquidation status. While not exact, this provides a reasonable estimate.
- The “deaths of enterprise” metric from the Business demographics dataset was excluded due to the way it was recorded: ” A death is recorded if a business was present in the active file in year t but not in years t+1 and t+2″. This approach may also include businesses that changed names, were sold, or stopped trading, introducing some discrepancies.
- The main dataset does not include exact liquidation dates or the date when a liquidation claim was raised. Instead, the liquidation date was approximated using the “ConfStmtNextDueDate” field for companies with a liquidation status. While not exact, this provides a reasonable estimate.
- Data was collected February 2026, and is accurate as of then.