Insolvencies among accommodation and food businesses rose 10.2% in Q2 as 840 companies entered distress due to rising costs and wage hikes, according to the Buchler Phillips Hospitality Index.
While the number of hotels, restaurants and pubs becoming insolvent eased in the first half of 2026, Insolvency Service data shows it remained historically high due to severe trading conditions across the sector.
Some 1,602 accommodation and food service companies closed in the six months to June. This represented a 6.1% drop from the 1,706 closures recorded in the first half of 2025.
Meanwhile, monthly hospitality insolvencies have remained above 260 throughout the year.
The Buchler Phillips Hospitality Index, which tracks monthly figures using a baseline set in January 2014, rose from 180.6 in March to 199.0 in June. The index peaked at 273.4 in August 2023.
High-profile casualties in the second quarter included restaurant chain MeatLiquor, which entered administration and was sold in a pre-pack deal in early June. Leon completed a restructuring in May, emerging from administration and a company voluntary arrangement after closing 28 of its 71 sites. Revolution Bars continued its closure programme, while Richard Wilkins shut his Michelin-listed Notting Hill site, Restaurant 104, at the end of April after seven years of trading.
Cost pressures intensified from 1 April 2026, when the national living wage rose 4.1% to £12.71 an hour and the rate for workers aged 18 to 20 increased 8.5% to £10.85. Industry body UKHospitality said the wage rises alone would add £1.4bn to annual sector costs. Operators also faced the 2026 business rates revaluation, alongside high energy and running expenses.
Jo Milner, managing director of Buchler Phillips, said: “There may be some easing in the headline insolvency figures, but there is precious little breathing space for hospitality businesses. Margins remain wafer-thin, consumers are still watching what they spend and higher employment and operating costs continue to bite.
“Hospitality remains near the top of the insolvency league table, and for many otherwise viable businesses there simply isn’t much left in reserve when something goes wrong.”
Insolvencies among accommodation and food businesses rose 10.2% in Q2 as 840 companies entered distress due to rising costs and wage hikes, according to the Buchler Phillips Hospitality Index.
While the number of hotels, restaurants and pubs becoming insolvent eased in the first half of 2026, Insolvency Service data shows it remained historically high due to severe trading conditions across the sector.
Some 1,602 accommodation and food service companies closed in the six months to June. This represented a 6.1% drop from the 1,706 closures recorded in the first half of 2025.
Meanwhile, monthly hospitality insolvencies have remained above 260 throughout the year.
The Buchler Phillips Hospitality Index, which tracks monthly figures using a baseline set in January 2014, rose from 180.6 in March to 199.0 in June. The index peaked at 273.4 in August 2023.
High-profile casualties in the second quarter included restaurant chain MeatLiquor, which entered administration and was sold in a pre-pack deal in early June. Leon completed a restructuring in May, emerging from administration and a company voluntary arrangement after closing 28 of its 71 sites. Revolution Bars continued its closure programme, while Richard Wilkins shut his Michelin-listed Notting Hill site, Restaurant 104, at the end of April after seven years of trading.
Cost pressures intensified from 1 April 2026, when the national living wage rose 4.1% to £12.71 an hour and the rate for workers aged 18 to 20 increased 8.5% to £10.85. Industry body UKHospitality said the wage rises alone would add £1.4bn to annual sector costs. Operators also faced the 2026 business rates revaluation, alongside high energy and running expenses.
Jo Milner, managing director of Buchler Phillips, said: “There may be some easing in the headline insolvency figures, but there is precious little breathing space for hospitality businesses. Margins remain wafer-thin, consumers are still watching what they spend and higher employment and operating costs continue to bite.
“Hospitality remains near the top of the insolvency league table, and for many otherwise viable businesses there simply isn’t much left in reserve when something goes wrong.”
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The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
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