The number of IVAs (individual voluntary arrangements) registered in July jumped by 27% compared with the same month a year earlier, according to Insolvency Service figures, PAMedia.com reported. Across England and Wales, 7,442 IVAs were registered in July, which was a 27% increase compared with July 2025. In the 12 months to July 31 2026, 59% of personal insolvencies were IVAs, 35% were DROs (debt relief orders), and 6% were bankruptcies. In the previous 12 months, ending in July 2025, 56% of personal insolvencies were IVAs, 38% were DROs, and 6% were bankruptcies.

Unemployment in the U.K. was unchanged in the three months through June, while wage growth edged up slightly, likely not moving the dial for Bank of England policymakers who are expected to leave interest rates on hold next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. The unemployment rate was 4.9%, the same as in the three months through May, according to data released Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. A consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a rate of 4.8%.

An international freight company with debts of almost £700,000 has been forced to close after an investigation by the Insolvency Service, BBC.com reported. Leeds-based Malcolm Wright Associates was found to have shipping debts with companies in the UK, US and Europe. The firm was investigated after concerns were raised about its trading activity and shut down following a hearing at the High Court in Manchester on Tuesday.

The British economy continued its resilient start to the year in the second quarter, growing faster than the U.S. despite the jump in energy prices and heightened uncertainty provoked by the war in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product growth was 0.4% in the three months through June, the U.K.’s statistics agency said Thursday, matching a consensus of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. It follows a 0.6% rise in the first quarter — the fastest among the Group of 7 leading industrialized nations.

Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill told the ​Wall Street Journal on Thursday ‌that stronger-than-expected British economic growth figures reinforced the case for higher borrowing ​costs to bring inflation ​back to target, Reuters reported. Pill, who was outvoted ⁠in a 6-3 decision by ​the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee ​to keep interest rates unchanged at the MPC's July meeting, said data showing the ​British economy grew 0.4% in ​the second quarter suggested the country was ‌not ⁠heading into a sharp downturn.

Crisis-hit Somerset Council’s finances have been likened to “picking up rice pudding in your hands,” the West Somerset Free Press reported. The council has fought to avoid bankruptcy since just after it was formed in 2023 and is one step away from being taken over by Government. A Best Value Notice was served on it last month by the Government, requiring the authority to take urgent action and to report regularly in writing direct to Ministers.

Barclays is facing a legal battle over cash held in accounts belonging to a collapsed shadow bank, The Telegraph reported. Administrators for Market Financial Solutions (MFS) have filed a case at the High Court in an attempt to force Barclays to hand over money they believe is owed to the business. AlixPartners, the administrators, were appointed to oversee parts of MFS by some of the shadow bank’s creditors just before it collapsed amid allegations of fraud earlier this year. It is understood that Barclays will be defending the case.

More than 120 MPs and peers have asked the chancellor to carry out an "urgent review" of the student loan repayment system, BBC.com reported. An open letter coordinated by the campaign group Rethink Repayment says the current set-up places an "unsustainable burden on the next generation of workers". Among the cross-party signatories are MPs with their own Plan 2 student loans, which have come under particular scrutiny this year. Last week, Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the interest rate on those loans was "egregious" and the issue was at the top of her in-tray.