How many UK restaurants and pubs closed in 2026? Insolvencies, closures and openings by month

About eight restaurant, cafe, takeaway and pub companies a day entered insolvency in Great Britain in the year to September 2026, and January has a reputation as the month venues go under. We counted every case since 2016 to see whether that reputation holds.

In the 12 months to September 2026, 2,947 restaurant, cafe, takeaway and pub companies entered insolvency in Great Britain. That is 4.8% fewer than a year earlier and 11% below the peak in the year to September 2024, but 42% more than in the year to September 2019. And January is not the worst month: in the registered figures it is the quietest. November is the peak.

Last checked: 5 November 2026. Data to September 2026, the latest release.

How many restaurants and pubs went insolvent in 2026?

2,206 in the first nine months of 2026, against 2,341 in the same months of 2025, a fall of 5.8%. Our analysis of the Insolvency Service's record-level company insolvency file (released 20 October 2026, covering January 2016 to September 2026) gives the 12-month totals by type of venue:

Source: our analysis of the Insolvency Service, company insolvencies record-level file, September 2026 release. Excludes bulk insolvencies, administrations that convert to creditors' voluntary liquidation (counted once) and moratoriums, following the file's own guidance.

Calendar years tell the same story. The four trades had 2,132 insolvencies in 2019, a low of 1,388 in 2021 while pandemic support held cases back, a peak of 3,346 in 2023, then 3,182 in 2024 and 3,082 in 2025. The trade's share of all company insolvencies rose from 8.7% in 2016 to 12.7% in 2023 and 2024, and was 12.2% in 2025. The Insolvency Service's own September 2026 commentary ranks accommodation and food service third of all industries in England and Wales for the 12 months to September 2026, with 3,208 cases, behind only construction and wholesale and retail.

So 2026 is better than 2023 to 2025, not better than before the pandemic.

Which kind of venue is most at risk of insolvency?

Licensed restaurants, by a distance. To compare trades of different sizes, we divided each trade's insolvencies in the 12 months to September 2026 by the number of companies in that trade on the ONS business register in March 2026 (Nomis, Great Britain).

The rate is approximate, because the register counts only companies registered for VAT or PAYE. But the gap is too wide to be an artefact: a licensed restaurant company was nearly four times as likely to enter insolvency as the average company. Table service, alcohol stock, larger premises and bigger wage bills all raise the fixed costs a quiet month has to cover.

Most closures are chosen, not forced. Of the 2,206 cases in January to September 2026, 84% were creditors' voluntary liquidations, where the directors decide to close. 12% were compulsory liquidations ordered by a court on a creditor's petition. 3% were administrations and under 1% were company voluntary arrangements, the routes that can keep a business trading.

Is January really the worst month for hospitality insolvencies?

No. Across 2016 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025 (leaving out the pandemic years), January averaged 179 restaurant, cafe, takeaway and pub insolvencies, the lowest of any month and 9% below the monthly average. November averaged 218, the highest.

AVERAGE INSOLVENCIES PER MONTH, RESTAURANTS, CAFES, TAKEAWAYS AND PUBS
Great Britain, 2016 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025

Jan  179  ##################
Feb  186  ###################
Mar  202  ####################
Apr  196  ####################
May  198  ####################
Jun  197  ####################
Jul  200  ####################
Aug  197  ####################
Sep  197  ####################
Oct  204  ####################
Nov  218  ######################
Dec  182  ##################

The January dip is a recent pattern. In 2016 to 2019 alone, August and December were quieter than January; in 2022 to 2025, January was the quietest month, with 7.1% of the year's cases against 9.6% in November.

Two cautions. The month is when the insolvency was registered with Companies House, or the court order date for compulsory liquidations, not the month the business got into trouble. A January cash crisis can take weeks to reach a creditors' decision and a filing. December and January also have fewer working days. So read the pattern as "the paperwork peaks in the autumn", not "January is safe". January may be when the trouble starts; it is rarely when it shows up in the figures.

Month by month, 2026 has run close to 2025:

How many restaurants and pubs closed altogether?

Far more than went insolvent. Insolvency counts only companies that go through a formal process. A sole trader who hands back the keys, or a company that is struck off with its debts paid, closes without appearing in these figures.

The ONS Business Demography reference tables (published 20 November 2025) count every VAT or PAYE registered business that starts or stops trading in the UK:

Set against those 21,980 business deaths, the 3,182 insolvencies in the four trades in 2024 come to roughly one in seven. The sources differ in coverage, so treat that as an order of magnitude. Openings still outnumbered closures, even in a bad year: restaurants and takeaways grew by 3,315 businesses, and pubs and bars held level after a net loss of 350 in 2023.

Survival is the harder number. Of restaurant and mobile food businesses born in 2019, 39% were still trading five years later; for pubs and bars, 44%. The average for all UK businesses was 38%.

Are pubs closing faster than restaurants?

Pubs are shrinking slowly while restaurants, cafes and takeaways grow. Our analysis of ONS UK Business Counts for local units (individual sites) in March of each year (Nomis dataset NM_141_1):

The pub decline is a slow leak, not a collapse, and it is not even. Between March 2018 and March 2026, pub and bar sites fell 11.2% in Scotland, 9.5% in Wales and 2.7% in England. Within England, the East Midlands lost 7.0% and the South East 5.6%, while London (+1.8%) and the North East (+2.5%) grew. Pub-specific costs are covered in our pub business rates guide.

Early warning signs: a checklist for owners

The trade figures will not tell you about your own business. These signs will, and most show up months before a creditor acts.

EARLY WARNING CHECKLIST (TICK ANY THAT APPLY)

Cash
[ ] The overdraft has sat at its limit for four weeks or more
[ ] Wages were paid with money set aside for VAT or PAYE
[ ] Deposits or gift card money for future bookings paid this week's bills
[ ] You have not paid yourself for two months or more

Creditors
[ ] HMRC arrears, or a missed Time to Pay instalment
[ ] A supplier has moved you to pro forma or cash on delivery
[ ] Rent arrears, or a letter from the landlord's solicitor
[ ] A statutory demand or a winding-up petition has arrived

Trading
[ ] Weekly sales below break-even for four weeks outside your usual
    quiet season
[ ] Staff costs rising as a share of sales month after month
[ ] You are using a personal card or a director's loan to fund payroll

Two or more ticks: build a 13-week cash forecast this week.
A statutory demand or petition: get advice the same day.

What to do with a tick: build a forecast first, so you know the week the cash runs out. Our cash flow forecast guide has a 13-week template, and our Autumn Budget 2026 guide and business rates bill guide put numbers on April's wage and rates changes. Call HMRC before a payment is missed, not after. And speak to a licensed insolvency practitioner early, while rescue routes such as a company voluntary arrangement are still open. Directors' duties change once insolvency is likely, and a personal guarantee on a lease can make a company's debt your own. Check with an adviser for your situation.

How we counted

• Insolvencies: the Insolvency Service record-level file for England, Wales and Scotland, September 2026 release (archived on 5 November 2026; the published file carries an expiry date of 17 November 2026). We kept SIC 2007 codes 56101 (licensed restaurants), 56102 (unlicensed restaurants and cafes), 56103 (takeaways and mobile food stands) and 56302 (public houses and bars), removed bulk insolvencies, "Administration to CVL" and "Moratorium" cases, and grouped by month registered. The file's England and Wales total for September 2026 is 1,834, within 3% of the published headline of 1,882. SIC codes are the companies' own declarations and can be wrong. The next Insolvency Service release was due on 17 November 2026; we refresh the tables with each one.
• Company counts and sites: ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis (NM_142_1 enterprises, NM_141_1 local units), March 2018 to March 2026, rounded to the nearest 5.
• Births, deaths and survival: ONS Business Demography 2024, SIC 2007 groups 561 and 563. We will update the figures when the next edition is published.

All three are published under the Open Government Licence. No TablePort data was used.

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort cannot change the trade figures, but it can make your own early warning signs visible sooner:

1. Read the daily report every morning. Each day's sales arrive with an AI-written summary, margin recommendations and a rule-based health score.
2. Watch labour cost against sales. Staff Management shows hours and labour cost against revenue, the line that moves fastest in a slow month.
3. Find the dishes that lose money. Menu engineering and margin recommendations show what to promote or review.

The limit: TablePort does not forecast cash flow or give financial advice. See restaurant management.