• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Thursday October 30 2025

Number of businesses in distress soars in Bristol and Salisbury

Almost 5,000 businesses in Bristol are experiencing ‘significant’ distress after a year-on-year increase of 22.5 per cent, according to the latest figures from Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert, which monitors the financial health of UK companies.

Meanwhile there are 401 businesses in distress in Salisbury – up 34.1 per cent year-on-year), 691 in Bath (up 20.2 per cent) and 605 in Weston super Mare (up 15.5 per cent).

Among the South West’s most affected industries were construction (+18.3 per cent), real estate and property (+34.5 per cent) and telecommunication and information technology (+13.4 per cent).

However, there was an annual decrease in the numbers of food and drug retailers (-3.7 per cent) suffering significant distress across the South West.

Nationally, the latest Red Flag Alert research for Q3 2025 recorded 726,594 businesses in significant distress – a 14.8 per cent increase year-on-year.

Paul Wood, partner at Begbies Traynor in Bristol, said: “Bristol businesses have been seeing a rise in distress recently, and this is mirrored in the latest Red Flag Alert figures.

“Whether advising on how to become more stable, or to take the next steps towards an exit through sale or closure we know that the earlier a business confronts distress the more options they have for getting away from it.

“These affected businesses are stretched across industries but, as this data suggests, they are more concentrated in the construction and property services industries as the housing market has cooled ahead of the budget.

“For this reason, as with many across the UK, businesses in Bristol and across the South West will be hoping that budget announcements will ease concerns rather than pile on more.

“In this climate there will be restructuring, but even as figures of distressed businesses across sectors rise there is still opportunity to survive and thrive.

“We aim to help businesses plan for a way out or a way forward and to take advantage of the opportunities available where possible they should look at the detail in their books now.”

Image courtesy of Karola G at Pexels