UK business deaths: business administration & support
UK business deaths: business administration & support stood at 7,685 Businesses in Q2 2026, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is one of the indicators in the Business births, deaths and companies table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 2017 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Business births, deaths and companies table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business deaths by industry | |||||||||||
| Business administration and support services | 7,685 | 8,350 | 6,970 | 6,510 | 8,085 | 9,575 | 8,045 | 6,225 | 8,245 | 11,720 | |
| Transportation and storage | 4,645 | 5,040 | 4,280 | 4,595 | 4,935 | 6,515 | 5,360 | 5,420 | 5,735 | 8,105 |
Understanding UK business deaths: business administration & support
Corporate deregistrations within office administration, employment agencies, cleaning, security, and operational support activities across the United Kingdom form the basis of this specific closure count. This series isolates support service providers from sibling industry rows, tracking enterprises that facilitate daily business operations for other firms. The figures record formal dissolutions, administrations, and entities falling below statutory tax reporting thresholds.
Reading these statistics requires recognising that support service firms often act as leading or concurrent indicators for wider corporate health, expanding or contracting alongside client demand. Seasonality can influence these counts through annual contract renewals and temporary labour fluctuations. Analysts should avoid direct comparisons with heavy industry closure metrics, given the low capital intensity and rapid formation-and-dissolution cycle characteristic of administrative support ventures.
Frequently asked questions
- What business types fall under administrative and support service deaths?
- Employment agencies, travel agents, security services, cleaning firms, and office administration providers.
- Are employment agency closures counted here?
- Yes, agencies providing temporary or permanent staffing fall squarely within this classification.
- Why are support service deaths sensitive to wider economic conditions?
- Because these firms rely on outsourcing budgets from other businesses, which contract during broader downturns.