Key takeaways
- 42 road freight and removal businesses were recorded as insolvent in July, up from 35 in June.
- The July figure was 20% higher month on month and 5% higher than in July 2025.
- Between January and July, there were 226 insolvencies, compared with 260 a year earlier.
- Across transportation and storage as a whole, the seven-month total fell from 462 to 403.
- EU transport bankruptcy declarations increased by 11.4% quarter on quarter, reaching the highest index level since the series began in 2015.
The number of road freight and removal businesses entering insolvency in England and Wales rose from 35 in June to 42 in July 2026. Despite the 20% monthly increase, the total for the first seven months of the year was 13% lower than during the same period of 2025.
The figures come from Table 1c of the Insolvency Service’s company insolvency statistics for July 2026. The industry breakdown is based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification and is not seasonally adjusted.
SIC group 494 covers “freight transport by road and removal services”. It therefore provides a much closer indication of conditions in road haulage than the broader transportation and storage category.
| Indicator | Road freight and removal services | Transportation and storage |
| July 2025 | 40 | 79 |
| June 2026 | 35 | 62 |
| July 2026 | 42 | 66 |
| Monthly change | +20.0% | +6.5% |
| Annual change | +5.0% | –16.5% |
| January–July 2025 | 260 | 462 |
| January–July 2026 | 226 | 403 |
| Change in seven-month total | –13.1% | –12.8% |
Source: Insolvency Service. Industry figures for England and Wales, not seasonally adjusted.
Monthly rise does not reverse the longer-term improvement
The increase from 35 cases in June to 42 in July represents the highest monthly road-freight total since April, when 45 insolvencies were recorded.
However, monthly figures in a relatively narrowly defined industry can fluctuate considerably. The seven-month comparison provides a more stable view of the underlying direction. From January to July 2026, 226 road freight and removal businesses entered insolvency, down from 260 during the corresponding period of 2025. That represents a decline of just over 13%.
The monthly pattern has nevertheless been uneven. Insolvencies fell as low as 15 in February before increasing to 45 in April. The subsequent figures were 37 in May, 35 in June and 42 in July.
Road freight insolvencies in England and Wales, January–July 2026. The visualisation was created with AI assistance and verified against Insolvency Service data by Trans.INFO.
The broader transportation and storage sector followed a similar pattern. Its July total increased from 62 to 66 month on month but remained well below the 79 cases recorded in July 2025. During the first seven months of 2026, the sector registered 403 insolvencies, almost 13% fewer than the 462 recorded a year earlier.
Overall company insolvencies also rose in July
Across all industries, 1,931 company insolvencies were registered in England and Wales in July. The seasonally adjusted total was 5% higher than in June but 5% lower than in July 2025, according to the Insolvency Service commentary.
The July total included 1,497 creditors’ voluntary liquidations, 288 compulsory liquidations, 124 administrations and 22 company voluntary arrangements.
Creditors’ voluntary liquidations accounted for 78% of all company insolvencies. Their number increased by 9% from June but remained 3% lower than a year earlier.
The Insolvency Service said average monthly insolvency volumes during 2026 had been 6% below the average of the preceding three years, principally because of a reduction in creditors’ voluntary liquidations.
The rolling insolvency rate also improved. In the 12 months to July 2026, one in 199 companies entered insolvency, equivalent to 50.3 cases per 10,000 companies. This was down from 52.5 per 10,000 in the previous 12-month period.
EU transport bankruptcy index reaches a record high
The improving seven-month picture in England and Wales contrasts with the latest European Union trend.
According to Eurostat, bankruptcy declarations across the EU transportation and storage sector increased by 11.4% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter.
The sector’s seasonally adjusted bankruptcy index rose from 233.0 to 259.5. This was its highest reading since the series began in 2015 and represented an annual increase of approximately 21%.
Transportation and storage recorded the second-largest quarterly rise among the sectors examined by Eurostat. Only education, health and social activities registered a stronger increase, at 21.1%. Across the EU economy as a whole, bankruptcy declarations rose by 5.7%.
The increase also coincided with a 1% fall in registrations of new EU transportation and storage businesses.
Eurostat / Trans.INFO. Visualisation created with AI assistance and checked against the source data by Trans.INFO.
Large differences between EU markets
The EU average concealed sharply divergent national trends. The largest quarterly increase was recorded in Luxembourg, where transportation and storage bankruptcy declarations rose by 168.7%. Greece followed with an increase of 54.5%, while Latvia recorded 43.1%.
Among larger transport markets, the Netherlands registered an increase of 30.4%. The figures rose by 26.3% in Romania, 21.4% in Portugal, 21.3% in Croatia and 19.3% in Czechia. France recorded a much smaller increase of 0.4%.
At the other end of the scale, Slovakia recorded the largest fall, at 34.1%, followed by Estonia at 33.4% and Slovenia at 21.8%. Declines were also reported in Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria and Finland.
Large percentage movements should be interpreted cautiously, particularly in smaller countries where a limited number of cases can produce sharp quarterly changes. Germany and Ireland did not have a Q2 2026 transport-sector figure in the latest Eurostat breakdown.
The UK and EU figures are not directly comparable
The Insolvency Service reports monthly insolvency numbers for road freight and removal businesses in England and Wales. Eurostat publishes a quarterly index covering the much broader transportation and storage sector across the EU.
Differences in national insolvency rules mean Eurostat does not provide a directly comparable EU case total. Nevertheless, the contrast is clear: the cumulative road-freight total in England and Wales remains below last year’s level, while the broader EU transport bankruptcy index has reached a record high.
