The number of companies going bust across England and Wales remained elevated last month, new data shows, as pressures intensify for firms grappling with higher costs, Reuters reported. Official data from the Insolvency Service showed there were 2,081 company insolvencies in July, edging up by 1% compared with June. The number of compulsory liquidations was slightly higher than in June and up 11% compared with the same month in 2024. Compulsory liquidations happen when a company is forced to close when it cannot pay money owed to creditors.

The Government is poised to take over operations at Britain’s third largest steelworks, aiming to save 1,500 jobs at Sanjeev Gupta’s Rotherham-based factory, The Telegraph reported. The High Court heard on Wednesday that the Government’s official receiver is ready to step in as administrator if Mr Gupta is unable to finalise a rescue deal involving £75m from US giant BlackRock.

U.K. inflation climbed to an 18-month high on the back of surging food, transport and hospitality prices, putting the Bank of England under pressure to reconsider the pace of interest-rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 3.8% in July from a year earlier, up from 3.6% in June and the fastest pace since January 2024, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The pickup was forecast by the BOE but exceeded the 3.7% economists were predicting. Services inflation, a closely watched gauge of underlying price pressures, climbed to 5%, above the BOE’s 4.9% forecast.

In July, there were 116 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, slightly lower than the number during the same month last year, Business Insider reported. The total number of company insolvencies was comprised of 68 company voluntary liquidations, 43 compulsory liquidations, four administrations and one company voluntary arrangement. There were no receivership appointments. The latest figures from Accountant in Bankruptcy, Scotland’s insolvency service, also showed that between 26 June 2020 and 31 July 2025, there were three restructuring plans and one moratorium.

An administrator's report on a collapsed English law firm shows that its problems were exacerbated by issues resulting from cyber-attacks. Glaisyers LLP was established in Birmingham more than 150 years ago, but had been insolvent for some time before entering administration earlier this month, according to the Law Society Gazette of England and Wales. Before administration, the firm operated a property department that was subject to a cyber-attack. This increased claims on the firm’s professional-indemnity insurance policy, causing premiums to jump.

Sanjeev Gupta is lining up financing from BlackRock for a contentious scheme to buy a crucial remaining part of his Liberty Steel business in the UK out of insolvency, a move set to put the metals magnate on a collision course with creditors including UBS, the Financial Times reported.

An esports company backed by David Beckham has been put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace, City AM reported. Guild Esports, which owns a multi-story gaming venue in Shoreditch, is seeking offers from prospective buyers with a bid deadline of Friday. Founded in 2018, the company employed esports teams which competed in popular gaming tournaments such as Fortnite and FC25. It also had partnerships with Sky Broadband and Subway.

The U.K. economy defied US tariff pressures in the second quarter, expanding by 0.3% and outpacing most G7 peers despite a slowdown from the optimistic 0.7% growth seen earlier in the year, EuroNews.com reported. Strong performances in the services and construction sector helped drive the gains, offsetting a drop in manufacturing and other production sectors. Compared with the same period last year, the economy expanded by 1.2%.

British goods exports to the United States fell to their lowest level in more than three years in June, according to official data published on Thursday that showed the hit from U.S. President Donald Trump's initial import tariff blitz, Reuters reported. Sales of British goods to the United States fell to 3.9 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) during the month, down by 0.7 billion pounds from May and about 20% lower than a monthly average of 4.9 billion pounds in 2024.