The number of U.K. listed companies at risk of insolvency has doubled as restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus continue to ravage the economy, Bloomberg News reported. A record 35% of U.K. companies issued profit warnings last year, according to a report by the consulting firm EY. There was also a surge in the number of companies issuing three or more profit warnings in a 12-month period, a warning sign for insolvency. “Many U.K.

The number of personal insolvencies recorded in England and Wales fell to a three-year low in 2020, the Evening Express reported. The Insolvency Service said that there were 111,424 individual insolvencies in 2020 – a total which was down by 9% on 2019. It marked the lowest annual figure since 98,897 personal insolvencies were recorded in 2017. The service said the fall in cases was driven by low volumes of bankruptcies and debt relief orders (DROs), which both decreased by 25% from the previous year.

Store and office vacancies are surging across the U.K. as the pandemic hammers retailers and workers stay at home, Bloomberg News reported. The amount of empty space in the U.K.’s malls and stores is rising at the fastest pace since at least 1999, when records began, according to a survey of brokers conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The number of brokers reporting higher office vacancy rates was the highest since the depths of the last financial crisis. U.K.

Silverstone-based exhaust technology manufacturer Baumot UK has been placed into administration by its German parent company, the Business Desk reported. The firm has appointed Cowgill Holloway Business Recovery after the Baumot Group filed for insolvency after its core markets of the UK, Israel and Italy were affected by lockdown brought on by the Covid pandemic. The company’s UK arm specialised in fitting buses and other vehicles to with catalytic reduction systems to reduce tailpipe emissions.

A trio of U.K. companies which misled clients to raise millions of pounds in funds under the guise of property investments have been wound up by the courts, the Financial Times reported. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found London-based property investment firms Rationale Asset Management and Value Asset Management had "entirely misled" investors and millions of pounds without making any "genuine" investments.

Debenhams has been wound up by a judge in a specialist court. Judge Daniel Schaffer made a winding-up order at an online hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court on Monday, the Mirror reported. He described the retailer as a "rudderless ship" drifting in an "ocean of insolvency" which needs to be brought into port. The judge said the Official Receiver now should assess the position. He had been asked to consider Debenhams' position by lawyers representing a shareholder and debtors. The judge said he was making a winding-up order of his own motion.

Now that Britain is firmly outside the European Union, Britain's auto industry could be on the verge of dwindling even more, the New York Times reported. The Brexit deal worked out with the European Union last month avoided cross-channel tariffs that would have been disastrous for auto manufacturing in Britain. But the pact will create more customs paperwork and slow down supply chains, while creating disincentives for global carmakers to continue investing in British factories as they begin retooling for electric vehicles.

Amigo said it would be insolvent if a proposed cap on customer payouts fails as the subprime lender published details of its plan, Sharecast.com reported. The company has written to customers and the financial ombudsman with details of a scheme of arrangement that would limit payments to customers and the ombudsman. Creditors will be asked to vote for the plan at a meeting on 30 March. If the scheme fails there will be no money for creditors whereas under the plan creditors will get a share of £15-£35m plus a share of Amigo's profit over the next four years, it said.

Britain’s economy will shrink over the longer term as the EU-UK Brexit trade deal “lacks substance” in vital areas, credit analysts warn in a report released on Monday, the Irish Times reported. Their assessment comes as Irish businesses on both sides of the Border continue to wrestle with difficulties caused by the UK’s exit from the world’s biggest trade bloc this month. Credit ratings agency Moody’s, which assesses organisations’ and states’ abilities to pay their debts, says a trade deal struck between Brussels and London on Christmas Eve is skewed in the EU’s favour.